Dōkutsugakure no Sato
by DragonKingDragneel25
Summary: Coallb fic with Spirit Soldier. A 'Naruto is banished' fic, with Resident Evil references. Naruto was too be banished from Konoha, but as the sentence was being carried out, the other Rookies (sans Sakura and Sasuke) rescued him. Now on the run from Konoha, they must work together in order to survive.
1. Chapter 1

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **Hey, guys! Listen, this is a collab between Spirit and myself, combining two of our ideas together. He sort of suggested it and after talking with him on it, I found myself liking the idea. So the general concept has been something of a pet project of mine for a while, and Spirit suggested combining it with his Resident Evil/Naruto crossover. And after some discussion, we agreed on just a regular Naruto fic with references to Resident Evil and his fic in general (OCs that Spirit created).**

 _ **Hey, this is Spirit.**_ _ **I was planning to rewrite my Resident Evil/Naruto crossover, with the OCs in them, before I thought about combining Dragon's idea with my own. And also there are going to be flashbacks for the OCs and Naruto.**_

 **This story will be a 'Naruto gets banished' fic, but with a twist! What is this twist? Well, why don't you read and find out!**

 **Disclaimer: Spirit Soldier and DragonKingDragneel25 do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1-Banishment and Escape plan**

* * *

"Naruto Uzumaki, it is by this council that you are being charged with treason, attempted murder of a fellow shinobi, disobeying the Hokage's orders, and endangering your fellow shinobi," a wrinkly old man wrapped in bandages said in an emotionless tone. "It is by the will of this council and the Emperor himself that we carry out your sentence."

Naruto Uzumaki, a thirteen year old young man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes wearing an orange jumpsuit, stared at the assembled group in shock. He had just healed up from the mission to bring back his friend and brother in all but blood, Sasuke Uchiha, and now he was being charged with _treason?!_ For using excessive force while the damn Uchiha slammed a lightning enchased fist _through his heart?!_

"How long have you old as shit mummies had this damn disastrous idea?!" a buxom blonde garbed in green clothing demanded. "Do you know just how badly Konoha will be affected by this?! Naruto's the ONLY reason we have all the connections we have!"

"Believe me when I say that I'm as thrilled as you are, Hokage-sama," the man in bandages, Danzō, said. "Regardless, I find myself forced into this situation and deliver the verdict as it was dictated. If left to me, I'd take Uzumaki-san on and train. And yes. I'm well aware of all what Uzumaki-san has done for Konoha. That doesn't change the fact, however, the civilians of this village have worked against him despite this."

The Hokage, Tsunade, couldn't deny that. Despite being a deplorable human being, Danzō always did what he believed was best for Konoha, as much as she hated to admit it.

"As if this… _ **child**_ ever contributed to Konoha!" a fat civilian scoffed, though it was obvious to everyone he wanted to say something else.

"Oh, well, I can cite three different alliances that Naruto has helped us create and/or strengthen," a bored looking man with black hair tied up in a pineapple shape yawned. "The first is Nami. We have a trade agreement with them because of the kid. The son of the Yondaime Kazekage is good friends with Naruto after he kicked his ass. And, most recently, our alliance with Yuki, which will be changing its name to Spring soon."

"That was all Uchiha-sama's doing!" another civilian snapped.

"I have mission reports that say otherwise!" Tsunade growled.

"It doesn't matter, regardless," Danzō sighed. "The civilians have sowed their crop. I'm afraid that we can only wait from them to reap it as well."

Naruto was watching this all in shocked silence. He couldn't believe after all he'd done for this village…all he'd done to be seen…Had it…Had it all been for nothing?

"Quit stalling and read the verdict!" a pink haired howler monkey howled at Danzō. Sakura's mother, Naruto could tell. He winced. After failing to bring back Sasuke, Sakura hit him hard and told him he was useless and pathetic and that she never wanted to see him again. It hurt worse than when Sasuke tried to kill him.

Danzō sighed in irritation. "Very well," he said with very carefully veiled anger. "Naruto Uzumaki, we, the councils of Konoha, sentence you to-"

"STOP THE TRIAL!" several voices shouted out loudly as the doors of the council hall were shoved open. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw nine very familiar faces running into the room.

"Who dares disrupt this trial?!" a councilman screeched.

"Ino?" a blond shinobi next to the pineapple haired man, called out.

"Chōji?!" a big boned man with red hair shouted.

"Kiba! What is the meaning of this?!" a feral looking woman with wild brown hair wearing a fur lined overcoat demanded in concern.

"Hinata. Neji," a stern looking man with long dark hair and blank looking eyes said. "Lee-san, Higarashi-san. To what do we owe your interruption for?"

"Shino, why are you here?" a tall man wearing a thick grey coat with a high collar and sunglasses asked monotonously.

"Shikamaru," Shikaku, the pineapple haired man, groaned, bored.

Indeed. Nine of the Rookie genin stood in the center of the council room, all wearing grim, determined looks as they walked towards Naruto. The shinobi council was in shock while the civilian council was fuming in anger.

"How did these gakis get in here?!" one council member shouted. "ANBU! Throw them out!"

"ANBU only listen to ME, Councilman!" Tsunade growled. "And they certainly will not!"

"This is a private hearing!" the pink haired woman hissed.

"This 'TRIAL' is farce and you know it!"

"Guys," Naruto whispered in shock. "What are you…?"

"We heard you were on trial for failing to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto," Shino, a tall teen of Naruto's age, wearing a large overcoat with a high collar and sunglasses, said tonelessly. "We were told that you may be executed."

"Like hell we're gonna let that happen!" a wild looking teen, Kiba, shouted. He wore a grey jacket with a fur lined collar and had spiky brown hair and two red marks on his face. His partner, a white ninken named Akamaru, yipped in agreement. "How are you getting executed when you just did your job?!"

"This whole situation is nothing but troublesome," Shikamaru, a teen who looked remarkably like his father except for he had no scars on his face like his old man. "But we've come to your defense."

"Yeah!" Ino shouted. She was blonde haired teen wearing a purple top and shorts and wrappings around her legs. "You may be a pain, but you don't deserve to die!"

"Guys…" Naruto said, amazement coloring his voice. He looked around and asked, "I-Is Sakura-chan with you?"

Hinata, a lavender haired beauty with the same white eyes as her father Hiashi and wearing a heavy jacket and blue pants, shook her head sadly. "S-She said she d-didn't want anything to d-do with you, N-Naruto-kun," she said.

"Sakura-chan has proven to be most un-youthful!" Lee, a tall teen wearing a hideous green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers with bowl-cut black hair, shouted loudly. "I find myself disheartened that I once saw beauty in her."

"She wasn't much of a kunoichi anyways," Tenten, a beautiful teen with brown hair tied up in two buns and wearing a light pink blouse told her teammate. "Anyone willing to throw their teammate to the dogs is nothing but trash!"

"Indeed," Neji, a young man who looked like his uncle Hiashi and wearing a white shirt and brown pants and had bandages on his right arm and left leg, agreed with a nod. "Don't worry about her Naruto. Just know that we're here to help you."

Their concern with him was touching to the blond haired youth. But before he could express his gratitude, Mebuki, Sakura's mother, screeched out, "Why are you kids protecting this demon?!"

"Mebuki! If you don't shut your mouth, I'll personally rip your damn head right off your shoulders!" Tsunade shouted.

"Well, I'm afraid you can't anymore, _Hokage-sama,"_ she said vehemently, stressing Tsunade's title. "Because since the brat's sentence has pretty much been decided already, the Sandaime's law is no longer lording over us!"

"Call Naruto a demon one more time lady, I'll be introducing you to my claws!" Kiba growled as Akamaru growled menacingly at the woman.

"Kiba!" Tsume, his mother, scolded.

"I'll call the _demon_ whatever I want!" the pink haired woman shouted back. "After all, that's what he is!"

The veins around Neji's eyes bulged out visibly as his eyesight sharpened thanks to his clans Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. "Hmm…I don't see a tumor in her head," he mused. "So, she must just be crazy."

The Rookies snickered at the serious sounding diagnosis from Neji. Even Tsunade cracked a smile. Naruto looked like he was about to laugh out loud, and even Danzō found himself nodding at the statement.

Mebuki was furious. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew the truth! A truth the Sandaime kept from you since the demon was born!" she screeched. Naruto paled at what she was implying.

This silenced the Rookies. "What are you talking about?" Tenten asked.

Mebuki sneered. "I find it odd that loyal Konoha shinobi like yourselves are defending the Kyūbi as adamantly as you are," she said with a nasty smile.

Naruto paled further; the shinobi council scowled in contempt at the woman. Tsunade growled warningly at the woman but restrained herself, knowing it would do no good.

Shikamaru's scowl turned into a furious glare as the other Rookies lost it. "HOW DARE YOU COMPARE NARUTO-KUN TO THE KYŪBI, YOU UN-YOUTHFUL HAG!" Lee shouted at the top of his lungs in pure anger.

"Naruto-kun is no demon!" Hinata shouted without her stutter, shocking the civilians. "If anyone here is a demon, it's YOU! You filthy troll!" Hiashi had to admit he felt some amount of pride at his daughter snapping at the woman like that. Perhaps she did have the makings of a true Hyena…

The other Rookies were shouting their agreements with Hinata's statement. Naruto's heart soared until Mebuki screeched again, "ENOUGH!" They shut up and glared at the woman. "You nine have no idea what you are talking about! This child was born the devil incarnate!"

"And you allow yourself to fall to your hatreds to believe such tripe," Danzō told the woman, making her turn to him and glared.

"What are you talking about?!" Chōji demanded.

"On the day of Naruto's birth," Danzō said with a sigh, figuring it best to clear the air, "the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyūbi. You cannot kill a mass of chakra. He instead sealed it into a newborn child. Naruto was that child."

The Rookies were silent, their shock easily seen on their faces. Team 8 looked like someone had just said their clans were all massacred while Teams 10 and 9 were all staring slack jawed at Danzō. Naruto ducked his head. This was where they'd abandon him. Where they'd call him a demon and…

His dark thoughts were cut off by Hinata of all people. "…You…You…You…" she struggled to stay calm, but it didn't work. AT all. "You IGNORANT SACKS OF SHIT!" she screamed, freaking everyone who knew her. "YOU HONESTLY THINK NARUTO IS THE KYUUBI BECAUSE IT'S SEALED INSIDE OF HIM?! YOU HEARTLESS BASTARDS!"

"How can you people be so blind?!" Tenten shouted angrily. "There's a difference between the kunai and he scroll it's sealed in, idiots!"

Neji's Byakugan flared back to life with a vengeance. "So that's why Naruto never believed in fate!" he hissed. "He's had a cursed seal like mine, only his was more powerful!"

"YOU UN-YOUTHFUL ASSHOLES!" Lee shouted at the top of his lungs. "I SHALL KICK YOUR UNGRATEFUL ASSES AROUND KONOHA 500 TIMES FOR THIS!"

"Naruto's not the Kyūbi!" Chōji shouted in anger. "If he was, then why is Konoha still standing?!"

"S-So that's why…" Ino was shaking as she mulled over the information in her head. However, she was quite angry with Sakura before coming to the Hokage tower, so she decided to focus on that and screamed, "You're stupid Haruno-san! You hate Naruto because of something he had no control over?! I honestly thought you were smart! Now I can see I was wrong!"

"Honestly, I don't know what's more troublesome," Shikamaru said in a hard tone. "You civilians and how you think Naruto's a demon which logically he cannot be, or how you can't see past your own prejudices to even do the required research to discover he could _never be_ the Kyūbi!"

"If you hate Naruto so much, then why do you still respect my clan?" Shino asked calmly, but everyone could hear the clear anger in his tone. "Naruto is, in a sense, the same as my clan. We both hold entities inside of our bodies; mine being bugs, and Naruto's being a fox made of chakra. Your irrational way of thinking is, quite frankly, is pissing me off."

"IF YOU THINK WE'RE GONNA ABANDON NARUTO BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE PAST HIS PAST, THEN YOU'RE DEAD WRONG, YOU PINK HAIRED BITCH!" Kiba shouted in absolute, carnal _fury_ at Mebuki's attempt at alienating his friend…his…pack member…in such a way. "ALL FOR ONE, AND ONE FOR ALL! HARM ONE OF US, YOU DEAL WITH **ALL OF US!** " The Rookies began to shout their agreements, chakra flaring dangerously as the genin moved behind Naruto in a silent show of support for the orange clad shinobi.

Naruto's eyes shined with unshed tears at his friends' support of him. He shook his head of them as he adopted a more serious mask and stood proudly in front of them. The now Rookie 10 stood before the councils defiantly.

The Shinobi councilmembers felt some sense of pride at their kids standing up for one of their own, and Tsunade smiled softly at the display. Mebuki, however, stared in shock. They now knew just why they were doing this: to be rid of the demon. WHY were they still defending him?! It boggled her mind. Why would anyone with sense stand up for this demon? Had he poisoned their minds?

"JUST TRY AND EXECUTE NARUTO, ASSHOLES!" Kiba shouted again. "BECAUSE IF YOU DO, THE REST OF US ARE LEAVING KONOHA FOR GOOD!"

THAT had every head, even Naruto's, turn to the Rookies in shock. The Rookies themselves looked dead serious, not one disagreeing with Kiba's brash statement. Their parents stood up at this.

"KIBA!" his mother exclaimed in shock.

"Chōji, why?!" the big boned shinobi's dad shouted out.

"J-You nine are serious, aren't you?" Tsunade asked in shock.

"Dead. Serious," Neji said firmly.

Danzō stared at the teens apathetically. "You nine truly embody Hiruzen's interpretation of the Will of Fire," he said. "Uzumaki-san is incredibly lucky to have friends like you." The nine didn't respond. "I'm afraid, however, his sentence might be worse than execution." The nine looked at him in confusion. "Naruto Uzumaki is banished from Hi no Kuni, and never to return for the duration of his life." The gasps from the Rookies had the shinobi council wincing, and Naruto himself paled. "His chakra is to be sealed off and will need to be out of Hi no Kuni's borders in three weeks…"

"LIKE HELL'S THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN!" Kiba shouted, and suddenly, the room was filled with smoke. Naruto and the councilmembers began coughing excessively. Tsunade was also not unaffected. Suddenly, Naruto felt himself being pulled towards the door. "Wha-?!"

The doors slammed open and the teens ran out, Naruto in tow. "LET'S HAUL ASS OTTA HERE!" Kiba howled.

"S-Stop them!" Mebuki shouted. "B-Bring that demon back for its punishment!"

"ANBU! Stop them from leaving the village!" Tsunade ordered. "If they leave, who knows what will happen to them!"

"H-Hey! What's going on, you guys?! What are you doing?!" Naruto demanded as he was dragged along by Lee.

"We weren't about to let you get killed, Naruto," Shikamaru told the blond shinobi. "So we devised a plan to get out of Konoha with you in tow."

"Turns out it was a better plan than we thought it was!" Ino supplied. "Y-You know…with the Kyūbi problem…"

"Please don't bring up that topic at the moment!" Lee shouted. "I wish to get out of Konoha as quickly as possible! Thinking about how much I want to hit every civilian in Konoha will only make me want to stay!"

"Lee's right!" Shino agreed. "Let's get out of Konoha and to a safe place to camp, THEN we can worry about that subject!"

"B-but, Konoha-!"

"Doesn't deserve your loyalty, Naruto!" Neji snarled, making Naruto turn to look at him. "Look at what Konoha has done for you! They spat on the Yondaime's sacrifice! On yours! Tried to banish you and take away your chakra! They are unworthy of the kind of loyalty you have!"

' _Guys…'_ Naruto felt elated that he had friends that would go to such extremes for him. He shook his head and smiled widely. Not a fake one like he was use to wearing. But a true, wide happy smile that hurt his cheeks. "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's get out of here!"

"YYAAAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kiba hollered. "THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO HERE! AKAMARU! LET'S GO!" The dog yipped as Kiba threw him a red food pill. Akamaru ate it, and his fur turned red as he transformed into a replica of Kiba.

"MAN BEAST! ULTIMATE TAIJUTSU! **FANG OVER FANG**!" the Kibas shouted and began to spin at a rapid pace, becoming two twin tornadoes of destruction as they flew towards a wall and decimated it. The nine shinobi then took to the air, soaring above the Konoha skyline.

"STOP!" several ANBU shouted from the hole they made. They looked around and saw the ANBU jumping after them. The nine got ready for a fight, but before they could, they heard, " **MULTI-SHADOW CLONE JUTSU**!" Suddenly the sky was blacked out by Narutos! Thousands of them! Some of them fell onto the ANBU and threw them off course.

"Nice job, Naruto!" Kiba shouted, but Naruto wasn't done.

" **Henge!** " several clones said, and they were surrounded by smoke. As the smoke cleared, the Rookies were shocked to see several clones turned into them! The clones began descending on Konoha, running in random directions and yelling at everyone.

"That should buy us some time!" Naruto shouted to them. "But I don't know how much!"

"Then let's use it wisely!" Shikamaru ordered. "Everyone! Grab your effects and meet at the far right side of the village walls! ASAP!"

"Hai!" the Rookies shouted. They touched down on a random rooftop and separated. Naruto took off to his home when he was tackled from behind. "Ack!"

"Dammit, Naruto!" a clear, bell like voice rang out, making Naruto turn to see a pretty blonde woman wearing a black shinobi battle suit and piercing red eyes with a slit down the middle. She had a model's figure and was currently glaring at Naruto. Her name was Aki Chōwashibō, and she was Naruto's adopted older sister. "What in the hell's going on here?!"

"Aki! We don't have much time! We need to run!" Naruto pleaded with his older sister.

"Not until you explain what's going on!" she growled at him.

"I'll explain at the compound! Please, onee-chan! We don't have much time!"

She frowned at him, but looked around and noticed the ANBU were chasing not only his clones, but the clones he henged into his classmates. Something was wrong. She looked back to Naruto and said, "You better have a good explanation for this, young man!"

He smiled sheepishly and nodded. The two quickly vanished, making their way to the Chōwashibō clan home.

* * *

Danzō stared out a window of the Hokage tower, watching the chaos below when an ANBU with a blank mask with the Kanji for "Root" appeared before him.

"Report," he said emotionlessly.

"Danzō-sama," the shinobi intoned respectfully. "The Genjutsu was placed on the other eight Rookies just as you instructed, sir. They are to rendezvous at the far right end of the village walls before leaving."

"Good," Danzō nodded. "And the tracker seal?"

"Has been placed on the target as planned. Once sufficient time has passed, I shall personally go and remove the Genjutsu and tracker seal as instructed."

"Very well. See to it that they leave Konoha unopposed. Dismissed."

"Hai." The shinobi vanished, leaving Danzō alone with his thoughts. Sure, his plan was dirty, underhanded, risky, and would very well get his head taken off by the Shinobi council; but unlike what everyone thought, he truly did care for Konoha. He knew that having Naruto out of the village would not only give Konoha's enemies the chance to kill the child because of his parents or even just giving them another jinchūriki but it would ruin Konoha financially.

Neither seemed very good in his opinion.

This plan was very extreme for his tastes, but extreme times called for extreme measures. He wasn't sure how the civilians got the Daimyo's signature, but he assumed it was through lies and deceit. However, he knew this was one sure fire way to get the Daimyo's attention. If all the clan heirs and heiresses up and left with the Uzumaki boy, then their parents, the clan heads, would raise a fuss and sooner or later, force the Daimyo to repeal his verdict. Then, once that was done, his Root agents would remove the subtle Genjutsu placed on them.

The Genjutsu was to warp their minds enough that they'd save Naruto from this farce and leave Konoha. It wasn't damaging to their minds as long as it didn't affect their minds longer than a year, which Danzō had no intention of allowing. If it took longer than a year, he'd think of another contingency plan to enact.

He sighed as he stared back down at the chaos. ' _Sometimes, I realize I really didn't envy you as much as I thought, Hiruzen.'_ After all…

He didn't have to deal with the paperwork this was going to be bringing the Hokage.

* * *

 **Translation list:**

 **Henge-** Transformation

 **Chōwashibō-** Death in Harmony

 **Aki-** Autumn

 **An: So like it? Hate it? And Aki and her clan are Spirit's OCs for his Resident Evil/Naruto cross, so most references to Resident Evil will come from them. Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! 'Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **An: Well, here's the second chapter, everybody! And just to let everyone know, Spirit and I are taking turns writing a chapter a piece, and he recently finished this one. This is mainly a flashback to how his OCs, the Chōwashibō Clan, met up with Naruto, and their reactions to Naruto's trial. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2: The Chōwashibō Clan**

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

 _Naruto was running through the village. Behind him was a mob that had knives, pitchforks, rocks, basically anything that could hurt him. He needed to get away. Find a place to hide before he was caught. If he did get caught, he was going to get injured. Badly._

 _He saw a small alley a few feet away and immediately dashed towards that. He didn't stop to breathe, and thanked Kami there wasn't a dead end in this one. He ran out the other side, he looked around to see where he could hide before the mob caught up to him._

 _He spotted a large home with an eight feet brick wall surrounding the place. That could work._

 _A large gate stood just a few feet away. Naruto didn't waste any time in jumping on it and climbing over. He quickly ran to one side of the wall and listened as the mob ran past the gate. He didn't let go of his breath until he didn't hear their footsteps anymore. He exhaled. He finally lost them._

 _"Hello?" a voice caught his attention and he jumped into the air in shock. The speaker was a young blonde girl his age with black hair with blonde streaks in it and blue eyes wearing a white dress. She tilted her head and asked, "Why are you in my clan's backyard? Are you playing hide and seek?"_

 _"I-uh-um-you see-dah-what's hide and seek?" Naruto stuttered out, freaking out._

 _The girl's eyes widened. "You don't know what hide and seek is?!" she cried. She grabbed Naruto by his arm and said, "Come on! I'll teach you!"_

 _"W-Wait! What are you-?!" Naruto's pleas went unheard as the mysterious girl dragged him further into the yard. However, it proved to be better than he thought. The girl, who introduced herself as Daria, spent twenty minutes teaching him how to play hide and seek. He learned she was very good at the game and she always found him, no matter where he hid._

 _Of course, he always found her as well._

 _After about thirty minutes of playing, Naruto was hiding and Daria was searching for him when he heard, "Daria-chan! It's time to come in!"_

 _"Awwwwwwwww!" Daria whined. "Aki-onee-chan! I'm playing with my new friend!"_

 _Naruto stiffened as the voice called back, "Tell your imaginary friend it's time for her to go home! It's really late now!"_

 _"Naruto's not an imaginary friend!" Daria pouted cutely, crossing her arms. "And he's a boy!"_

 _Suddenly, the doors flew open, startling Naruto as two teens with blond streaked black hair ran out the door with a boy his age with the same hair run out, all holding various shinobi weapons._

 _He whimpered quietly, but this proved to be a mistake as several kunai knives were thrown in his vicinity. He yelped and jumped out of his hiding spot, only to be caught by the teen girl._

 _"Who are you?!" she demanded harshly._

 _"P-Please don't hurt me," he whimpered meekly._

 _"Onee-chaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn!" Daria whined. "Don't hurt my friend!" She stamped her foot on the ground, glaring at the older girl._

 _Aki blinked at her sister. She then looked back at Naruto and frowned. "Wait...you're the Uzumaki kid, right?"_

 _"Y-Yes?"_

 _"What are you doing in our clan compound?"_

 _"P-Playing hide and seek?"_

 _"Yes, I got that, but WHY?" she pressed._

 _"H-Hiding," he answered._

 _"From what?" the older boy demanded._

 _"F-From the mob."_

 _"Mob?" Aki raised an eyebrow._

 _Naruto nodded. "People don't like me," he said. "They like to chase me and beat me up."_

 _Daria gasped and tackled Naruto out of Aki's grasp. "Why would anyone wanna beat up my friend?!" she cried as she squeezed Naruto to death._

 _The elder boy looked to Aki and whispered, "Do you think it's because of the Kyūbi?"_

 _Aki nodded grimly. "They must hate him for what the fox did," she said. "Aku, I...what are we going to do now?"_

 _The elder boy, now known as Aku, thought about his sister's question. Kicking him out of their home wasn't an option. The mob would eventually find him and beat the poor boy. And even if they took him to his home, when he was left alone, anyone would attack once they had left. Speaking of which…._

 _"Where's your home Naruto?" Aku asked him. When the blonde (Who manage to escape Daria's grasp, but she still got ahold of his arm) remained silent, Aku pressed forward. "Do you have a home at all?" Naruto slowly shook his head at this. Aku sighed. He was afraid of that._

 _"So how about you stay here?" Aku offered, causing Naruto, Aki, and the other boy to look at him in shock. "At least, until I can figure out where you can safe at. Seimei, can you and Daria show Naruto around?"_

 _The boy, now known as Seimei, gave him a questioning look, but nodded. "Sure Aku." He then look at Naruto and Daria. "Come on you two. We got a lot to show."  
"Yay! My new friend is staying with us!" Daria cheered. Naruto, who was still shock at the offer, yelped when Daria pulled him into the clan home, with Seimei following after them._

 _When they went into the house, Aki spoke up. "Are you sure this is the right decision, Aku?" She asked her brother. "I want to help him two, but the civilian counsel isn't going to just let us keep him."_

 _"I know that Aki." Aku sighed. "I'm going talk to the Sandaime Hokage about this. See what he can do to help him. And if the civilian counsel tries to get involved, we'll do whatever we can to stop them from harming him."_

 _(Flashback End)_

* * *

Naruto and Aki quickly got back to the Chōwashibō compound. Aki turned her blonde hair and red eyes back to black hair with blonde streaks and blue eyes. "You better not leave anything out," Aki warned Naruto.

"I won't. I promise," Naruto said to her. She nodded in approval before they went inside their home. They were greeted with Aku, Seimei, and Daria waiting in the living room. They all turned to the door when they heard it open.

"Naruto!" Daria cried and before the blonde whiskered boy knew it, the young girl tackled him in a hug. "Are you okay? How bad did you get hurt? Let's get you to a hospital to find out!"

Naruto protested as Daria dragged him out of the door. "I'm fine Daria! Besides, I already went to the hospital, so I'm okay." Daria let go at that, but still look very worried, while Seimei and Aku walk over to them.

"What the hell happened on the mission?" Seimei bluntly asked. "One of the ANBU told us to pack everything up for when you got back here."

"Tsunade-sama also told me something similar, after I got back from my own mission," Aku told him. "She didn't elaborate on why. That's why Aki went to find you. Did something happened?"

Naruto sighed. "It's a long story. A really long one. And we don't have a lot of time as it is!"

"Then talk quickly," Aku said.

So Naruto started in the beginning, as quickly as possible. His fight with Sasuke, only to end up with lightning in his chest. The trial set up by the civilian counsel. When the Rookie 9 came to help him. And when he found out that they planned to banish him.

There was various reactions. Seimei looked very pissed, his face red and teeth clenched. Aki was no better, a scowl formed on her beautiful face. Aku didn't show any expression, but the anger was clear in his eyes. And Daria looked downright distraught, before hugging Naruto tightly.

"Why does everyone want to hurt you?!" She cried out, burying her head into his shoulder. "You never hurt anyone! You didn't do anything to them!"

"More importantly, why weren't we informed?" Aku asked, his voice taking an edged tone. "You're a part of our clan Naruto. We had every right to know that you were being tried."

"Cause they're idiots, that's why," Seimei hissed, clenching his fist. "We've been helping their lazy asses, making sure this village is safe and protected, and what do we get?! Our brother banished for doing his job!"

"While I don't disagree with them being idiots, let Naruto finish," Aki said to him. "I doubt that was all of it, considering there several clones distracting the ANBU right now. Some of them henges."

Naruto sighed. "My friends helped me get out of the room," Naruto told them. "They all decided that they'll leave Konoha with me, and I made several henge clones to distract the ANBU, so they could what they." Naruto got up suddenly, eyes wide. "Which brings me back to my original point, we need to get our stuff and leave! We got to meet them at the far right side of the village wall."

"Good thing we finish packing then," Aku said nodding. He turned to his siblings. "Everyone get your stuff and get ready to leave. Make sure you didn't leave anything important or personal. Seimei, you better go to your own team and see if they want to come with us. If we're going to do this, we will need all the allies we can get."

"Yeah, okay," Seimei agreed. Then he Shunshined to where his team could possibly be at. Aki, Daria, and Naruto, meanwhile, went to their rooms to pack their belongings.

Aku, meanwhile, sat down on a recliner and let out a long suffering sigh _. 'I don't regret adopting you Naruto, but damn is your life difficult.'_ Those civilians were determined to get Naruto out of the village, weren't they?

He felt anger at Sakura and Sasuke for abandoning Naruto. They were supposed to be his comrades. His friends. How could they abandon him like that? And for what? Petty revenge? A crush for somebody who doesn't even respect you?

 _'Oh, if you could see your youngest son now Mikoto.'_ Aku thought, thinking about his former mother figure. _'You would've been disappointed in him._ '

But the anger disappeared when he thought about Naruto's friends. While he was glad those nine are willing to stick up for Naruto, he was shocked to hear that they decided to leave the village with him. Where on earth did they come up with the idea? Cause he knew that all of them were loyal to Konoha, as well as their clan and/or family. They wouldn't think about abandoning him. Did someone plant into their idea into their head?

He heard footsteps coming to the living room, and saw Daria, Aki, and Naruto came in. He pushed away the thoughts in his head for now. He'd think about it later. "You guys got everything?" Aku asked them. Then he saw Seimei Shunshin back into the house. "And you told your team what happened?"

All of them nodded. "I made sure Naruto and Daria got everything Aku." Aki told him. "I also got all of our clan jutsus." Aku nodded to her in appreciation.

"I also told my team what had happened and what we plan to do. They decided to join me." He then got a cocky grin. "Of course, it wasn't a question that they would join an awesome guy like me." The twin brother and sister rolled their eyes while Daria giggled. Seimei had always been cocky, and that didn't change when he became a shinobi with Naruto.

"Alright then. Let's go." Aku led all of them out of their clan home. But when he opened the door, he was met with none other than the Godaime Hokage. "You need something Tsunade-sama?"

"So all four of you are leaving with Naruto, huh?" It was more of a statement than a question. And Tsunade didn't look all that surprised.

Aku nodded. "We're not just gonna just let them banish Naruto." Aku told her seriously. "If he has to go, then we'll be going as well."

"We don't abandon our family Tsunade-sama." Aki joined her brother. "And Naruto is our family, ever since he entered into our home."

 _'Onee-chan. Onii-chan._ ' Naruto thought to himself, tears returning to his eyes before he shook them out. Even though he was adopted by them years ago, their devotion to him made his heart soar.

Tsunade nodded in understanding. "I'm not going stop you." Tsunade sighed. "Besides, I doubt you would try to face me when you can use your Kekkei Genkai to get away." Aku nodded to that.

The Chōwashibō clan Kekkei Genkai was speed. When it activates, their eyes turn red and hair fully blonde. It increased their bodies' natural attributes, as well as make them incredibly fast. The drawback though was that if they keep using it regularly, it would cause them pain. From blurred vision and massive headaches, to their body seizing up in pain. So Aku and Aki made sure they, as well as Seimei and Daria, didn't overuse the ability.

"So why are you here?" Aku asked her. She wouldn't be here just to say that.

Tsunade handed Naruto a large scroll. "This," she explained, "is your inheritance, Naruto."

This stumped the five. "My inheritance?" Naruto asked.

"His inheritance?" the four of the Chōwashibō clan members asked in synchronization.

Tsunade nodded. "His parents had made many enemies, so Sarutobi sensei kept it from him until he was sure he could defend himself, or he became chunin. Naturally, on his death, the damn civilian council stalled his application," Tsunade grumbled the last part. "But in any case, Konoha doesn't deserve it, which they will try to take once Naruto's gone."

Tsunade smiled sadly. "I'm sorry this happened, Naruto. If I could change it now, there would be nothing to stop me. But the civilian council has done their homework well. My hope is that I can convince the daimyo to revoke his decision. But until then, stay safe."

With that, Tsunade left, leaving Naruto and the Chōwashibō children alone. Aku look at the scroll with interest. "I wonder who your parents are Naruto."

Naruto nodded, looking at the scroll. "I've always wondered that too. Even more so now." He looked at the scroll for a little longer before putting it up. "Well, I'll look at it later. Right now, we need to go catch up with the others."

Aku nodded in agreement. "Everyone made sure they got their stuff?" He asked all of his siblings. All of them nodded. "Good. Now let's go."

With that, all five of them Shunshined to the right side of the village wall, where the others would be meeting them at.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **An: Took a while to get this one right, so I hope you guys enjoy it. And also, some of the characters will be a bit OOC in this next bit, mainly because of their (SPOILER ALERT!) first kills. So yeah. You've been warned.**

 **Chapter 3- Race against the clock**

* * *

 **With Danzō**

Danzō hadn't moved from his spot when the ROOT nin returned. "Danzō-sama. My squad and I have placed the last of the Genjutsus on the Shinobi and Kunoichi you listed. Aku Chōwashibō seemed to fight against the Genjutsu, but the situation was handled quickly," the shinobi reported.

"Good. Make sure the group gets out of Konoha without any complications," Danzō ordered.

"Hai, sir." The ROOT nin vanished. Danzō sighed again. ' _Once they're out of the village, I'll write to the Daimyo. Tell him he has been misinformed about the situation,'_ he thought. ' _Then I'll begin Phase II of the plan and hopefully get them back before Kumo or worse, Iwa, finds them.'_ Since both villages had a history with Naruto's parents (good and bad) and given Uzumaki was the jinchuriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, if he was found by either, disaster was sure to follow.

So Danzō personally reviewed several Shinobi to see which ones would be best suited to keep them safe from both threats. He didn't find all that many that could look over Uzumaki's jinchuriki status and still wish to protect him, but he supposed the ones he found would have to do.

He sighed again and made his way to his office in the tower. He had a letter to write.

* * *

 **With Rock Lee**

Rock Lee didn't have much to his name. So it wasn't much of a hassle to pack everything up.

He broke into his apartment and kicked an ANBU out of his way, not bothering to apologize as he bolted through the room and grabbed his backpack. He quickly shouldered it and jumped out the window and onto the adjacent building. Two more ANBU appeared in front of him. They proved no challenge as he performed a multitude of spinning kicks, knocking them to the side.

" **Leaf Hurricane!** " the bowl haired shinobi shouted as he landed and took off again. He was about to jump to another rooftop when someone jumped in front of him. He skidded to a stop and looked up, only to see it was Gai sensei!

"Lee! What's going on?! I was just ordered to capture you and the other Rookies! What has happened?!" his mentor asked in his usual loud tone.

"Konoha's civilian council has betrayed Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted back at him. "They intend to banish him from Hi no Kuni! The other Rookies and I decided that we would help him get out of Konoha as soon as possible!"

"Lee, that's treason!" Gai shouted. "How could you do that?! You'll be locked up and won't become the splendid shinobi you dreamed of!"

"Well, it won't matter because I'll be going with him!" Lee countered, shocking his sensei. "And I won't stay in this village if they're so willing to trample over my friend!"

"But isn't betraying the village extreme?!"

"They don't deserve my protection!" Lee snarled. Since returning from that mission, I've heard the civilians' whispered words against Naruto-kun! He's been betrayed by this village!"

"Lee, we can talk this out! Let's go to the Godaime! She can-"

"The civilians went behind her back and got the Daimyo's signature!" Lee countered again. "I'm sorry Gai-sensei! But I must do this! To protect my friend! And if you stand in my way…" He fell into his Goken stance. "I'll fight my way through you!"

"L-Lee…" Gai was shocked. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes at the conviction in his student's voice. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but feel proud of his student for sticking up for what he believed in. However, he was attempting to betray the village. Gai couldn't allow that.

So, it was with a heavy heart that Gai sighed in misery and asked, "You do realize, Lee, that as a Jonin of Konoha, I cannot allow this to happen, right? I will have to stop you."

"I know, Gai-sensei," Lee said a little quieter. "But it doesn't change the fact that I must do this. I'm sorry, Gai-sensei."

"So am I, my student," Gai said, and fell into the Goken stance as well.

* * *

 **With Tenten**

Tenten ran through her family's shop and furiously grabbed some last minute essentials: shuriken, kunai, ninja wire, scrolls, med kits, etc. She raced into the back of the store and grabbed her backpack, which was weighed down with several storage scrolls already. She placed her last minutes essentials in another storage scroll and shoved it into her backpack. Shouldering it, she raced to her room whilst grabbing a picture frame on a bookshelf.

Pausing, she looked at the picture. It was when she was eight, her parents on either side of her, all of them smiling happily in front of their new shop. Tenten sighed sadly. Her parents would have been ashamed of what has went on in Konoha since their deaths.

Seals began to blare around her, startling her out of her reverie. They had breached her shop's front doors. Her eyes widened, but soon hardened in resolve as she put the picture in her backpack and flashed through several hand seals, before running back to her room. Opening a large scroll, she channeled her chakra into it and was suddenly teleported onto a rooftop facing her family's shop. She smirked. Got to love seals. She turned towards the village walls when she was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Got you!" a shinobi shouted. Tenten struggled. She wasn't about to get captured! She wouldn't stay here! Not after what she's just found out! She wasn't thinking. She quickly made a hand seal and pumped as much chakra into the jutsu as she could. The seals on her house, which were supposed to be simple low level explosives meant to disorient, overloaded and exploded violently, sending the weapons specialist and the shinobi to the ground.

Tenten groaned as she picked herself up and looked over the roof's edge. Her eyes widened as she stared at the destruction of her family's shop. Dead bodies of Konoha shinobi were sprawled inside the wreckage. She gasped in horror. What had she done?! The seals weren't supposed to blow up like that!

More shinobi began appearing around her family's shop, snapping her out of her thoughts. She panicked and jumped away from the roof's edge. Turning back to the village walls, she jumped towards them while channeling chakra into her legs.

' _I'm so sorry!'_

* * *

 **With Kiba**

Kiba knew that if he had left his stuff at his clan's compound, he'd never escape. So, in advance, he left it all the items he'd need at the park, under a tree that was known for having several stray cats congregate around it.

The Inuzuka heir thought it would throw his clan off, as he actively avoided this tree like the plague.

He didn't account for, however, his mother following him after his escape from the tower.

"Kiba! Stop this!" she had shouted just as he had grabbed his backpack. He looked back at her in shock, not expecting her to chase him. He cursed mentally. _'Of all the people to stop me, it had to be Mom!'_ Anyone, even his sister, would have been fine, but why his Mom?!

He flinched when she called out his name as he turned to face her. He tried to keep his face impassive, but the look of his mother's betrayed and hurt face, made it falter slightly. Akamaru whimpered.

"Please stop this, Kiba!" she shouted. "Come back with me now, and let's talk about this! I know that Naruto's punishment is severe, but we can't think irrationally on this!"

"I'm sorry, Mom!" Kiba said, sounding a lot braver than he felt at the moment. "But I won't abandon Naruto! You taught me loyalty was the Inuzuka's prize! Naruto's my friend, and I won't let him suffer this alone! I'm a member of his pack, Mom! And packs hunt together!" he shouted the last part, feeling a sense of pride flow over him.

Once, he had thought of himself as an Alpha, but after Naruto, who had truthfully the less formal training than he did, beat him, he knew that he wasn't. It was a hard blow to his pride. But then again, it wasn't all bad. If there was ever one person that Kiba would willingly allow to be the Alpha of his pack, it was certainly Naruto.

Even more so now, knowing why he was so strong.

Tsume, meanwhile, was shocked, yet honestly proud of her son's resolve on the matter. She despised how Kushina's son was being abused and how he was being banished for doing his damn JOB, but as the head of the Inuzuka clan, she was forbidden from doing anything because of the councils. She tried to help Naruto out when she could; a clan member watching over him when he walked through Konoha, food when he couldn't afford it (whether it was because his stipend from the Hokage ran out or someone stole his money), new clothes when he was younger, things like that.

Yet, here was another chance to help her best friend's son, but the cost was high (way too high!). Her son was willing to throw everything away; his clan, his heritage, his family; all for the sake of his friend. Unbidden, Kakashi's motto rang through her head: ' _Those who break the rules are trash. That's true. But, those who abandon their friends…are worse than trash.'_ Tsume bit her lip, her resolve breaking quicker than she expected it to.

"You don't have to worry about me Mom!" Kiba tried to be reassuring. "I know what I'm doing! And I'll have the others to help! We…I have to do this! My new pack needs me!"

Tsume's resolve broke a little more. But she held strong until Kiba spoke again, then her resolve shattered.

"I'll make you proud Mom! I'll bring honor back to Dad's name! I promise!" Kiba proclaimed. Tsume stiffened visibly at the mention of her husband, and how he was hailed as a traitor, none never knowing (or never believing) he was innocent. Tsume rushed forward suddenly and wrapped her son into a tight hug. Kiba was so shocked he didn't move as Akamaru yipped in discomfort in Kiba's jacket.

"I can't say I'm proud of your decision to leave," Tsume said, choking a little. "But I can't be more proud of your resolve. You stand next to your pack with the same ferocity your father did." His mother's tears rolled onto his jacket, making him wince. He didn't like it when his mother cried.

"I wish it didn't have to come to this," she continued. "But I guess it was meant to be." She pulled away from him and said, "Go." He stared at her in shock. "I've placed some things you'll need in your backpack. I won't stop you. Lord only knows why, but I just can't!" She smiled at him and kissed his forehead. "Stay safe, my son. And know that I love you greatly."

Kiba looked at his mother with watery eyes. To get her blessing for his (admittedly crazy) plan to leave with Naruto was something he didn't ever think he'd obtain that. He gave her a wide, toothy grin, eyes closed. Kuromaru, Tsume's ninken partner, chose this time to walk up to Akamaru and said, "Take care of your partner, pup. This journey will prove to be a challenging one for the two of you."

Akamaru yipped once, telling the elder ninken he understood. Tsume nodded to Kiba, who nodded back and took off running, but before he even made it 10 feet from his mother, several shinobi, ANBU and members of his clan, jumped him and slammed him into the ground.

"Kiba! What are you thinking you little shit?!" one of his clan members demanded.

"Place the chakra suppressors on him stat!" an ANBU said loudly.

"Wait! Stop!" Tsume shouted, but before she could help her son, an explosion near her disoriented her. She coughed as a large cloud of smoke flooded the area, even covering Kiba and the other shinobi holding him down. Kiba and his clan members began coughing and suddenly felt dizzy.

"W-What's with this smoke?!" an Inuzuka clan member coughed. "I-I can't breathe!"

"I can't see straight!" another shouted.

"Calm down!" an ANBU shouted, but soon fell into a fit of coughing. "Subdue the-"

Kiba took his chance to use the Replacement jutsu with a fellow Inuzuka clan member and turned to run through the smoke. However, his vision became extremely blurry, and he discovered his nose was stopping up. All he could hear was a loud ringing sound. Blindly, he ran forward, stumbling as he tried to correct himself from falling. The shinobi tried to stop him, but panic began to seep into his consciousness, and he lashed out wildly, trying to ward off the attackers and exit the cloud of smoke.

"Kiba stop! Just run!" he heard his mother shouting, but it was far away; he almost didn't hear it. A black blur appeared at his side as he ran out of the smoke, and he wasted no time in slashing his claws the blur's neck. A wet, _shlinking_ noise caught his barely caught his attention as he saw the blur fall to the ground. Squinting hard in an effort to see, he made out a body on the ground, blood pooling around its neck.

His insides froze. Did…Did he just kill someone? Shaking his head, he looked again, hoping it was just a hallucination, when he caught the facial features of the body. He let out a choking gasp. The rapidly paling face of the woman in front of him…she had the red tribal marking of his clan!

' _No! NonnonononononononononononoNO!'_ he thought in a panic and struggled to stay upright.

"Kiba!" he heard his mother shout again. He paled and tried to look her way, but he stumbled into a tree, nearly falling over. He struggled to see, but he could just make out the horror on his mother's face. He flinched away from it and turned abruptly.

"Kiba wait!" Tsume shouted, struggling to gain her senses, but it was no use.

Her son was gone.

Meanwhile, in the foliage, a ROOT nin watched silently. He had been there since Tsume showed up, and he had to act quickly to insure she didn't stop him. A quick Genjutsu did the trick, luckily. Then when the other shinobi appeared, he was a little too slow in throwing the smoke bomb, which had been custom designed with a special drug inside to disrupt the keen senses of the Inuzuka. As a result, Kiba Inuzuka was caught in the explosion, and was now stumbling to the Rookies' meeting spot.

' _Danzō-sama_ _will need to be notified,'_ he thought as he left to ensure the Inuzuka heir made it to the other genin.

* * *

 **With Neji and Hinata**

Getting into the Hyūga clan compound would have been suicide for almost all the Rookies.

Expect of course, if your name was either Hinata, Neji, or Naruto.

Hinata and Neji were obvious of course, and if you knew Naruto well enough, you'd surely believe he could. Given that he painted the Hokage Monument in broad daylight in a 'Kill me now!' orange jumpsuit UNDER ANBU surveillance for a prank he had pulled the day before which happened to be switching all the Hyūga males' underwear with bright pink see through thongs; it was safe to say that Naruto was one person Hyūgas were wary of.

But back to Hinata and Neji, it wasn't just because of being Hyūgas that made them able to break into the Hyuuga clan compound without it being suicide. Hinata it was because she was the Hyūga heiress, and could act on her station to make any of the clan members back down. That was not mentioning she was quite vicious and slightly sadistic when you _actually_ manage to piss the normally nice and polite girl off.

Neji, on the other hand, was just one of the best prodigies seen in the Hyūga clan in decades. If it wasn't for the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead, he could have effortlessly have taken out roughly half the clan (Branch and Main clan members alike).

They had just crossed the threshold of the library after Hinata destroyed some Main branch member's ability to reproduce ever again after Neji's seal was activated by said Main branch member. Hinata closed the door when an intricate seal array appeared across the doors and walls. Now on high alert, Hinata whirled around, but was shocked to see her father standing there! Neji, who was still sore from the Caged Bird Seal's effects, also looked up and tried to fall into the Jūken stance.

"We only have a short time," Hiashi stated as he reached into his robes, making Neji and Hinata stiffen up. When he pulled out a scroll, they relaxed slightly. "This scroll contains all of the Hyūga clan's secrets on the Jūken and the Byakugan. You will need these on your journey." He threw the scroll to Hinata, who caught it deftly. Hiashi pulled out another scroll and threw it to Neji, who caught it easily. "That scroll contains the details to the Caged Bird Seal," he explained, making the two's eyes widen. "I suggest having Uzumaki look at it before you leave Hi no Kuni's borders, so you can release Neji's seal before it becomes a liability."

"Why are you helping us?" Neji demanded.

"I failed the both of you more times than I can count," Hiashi sighed. "I knew you all would do something crazy today, but I must admit, I wasn't expecting running away from the village." He looked to them and bowed low, shocking them. "I know no amount of apologies can make up for my transgressions against the two of you, but please know that despite everything, I'm proud of the two of you. I wish I could do more but…"

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Hinata kneeling in front of him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She hugged him. "T-Thank you, Father," she whispered. "Thank you."

That was all she said, but that's all she needed to say. Hiashi smiled at her and nodded gratefully. His expression soon hardened however as he said, "The hallway behind me doesn't have any clan members or shinobi patrolling it. Use it to escape. I'll cover for you the best I can."

Hinata smiled at him and hugged him again. She moved towards opposite door as Neji began to follow. As he passed Hiashi, he heard his uncle say, "Protect her for me." Neji gave a small, barely noticeable nod as he followed his cousin out the door, the seals replacing themselves as the door shut.

 **With Team 10 and Shino**

* * *

Shikamaru convinced his team to put their packs near their agreed meeting point as it would be easier than trying to break into their clan homes. The lazy genin tried to convince everyone else, but most couldn't as trying to take out their belongings would raise too many questions. Shikamaru understood, even though he was irritated at the fact.

His team and he reached the right side of the village wall closest to the Forest of Death just as Shino arrived. Team 10 tensed, but once they saw it was Shino, they relaxed a little. "I was able to get here with little difficulty, though I suspect that's thanks to Naruto's distraction," he said in his usual stoic manner.

Shikamaru nodded. "Good. Now we wait for the others to show up," he said.

"I sense someone," Ino said suddenly, "Wait…multiple people in bound right now!" The three males tensed, but suddenly, Naruto and the Chōwashibō clan showed up behind them. All were packed and ready to leave.

Chōji got ready to fight but Aki, ever the clan's spokesperson, quickly said, "We're here to leave as well. Naruto's a member of our clan, and we stick by our clan. No exceptions."

Shikamaru nodded and quickly held a hand up to stop Ino from going off on a rant. "No Ino. The Chōwashibō clan is ok. I honestly thought this would happen, as they never let any civilians get away with harming Naruto; and I suspect they've known about Naruto's…unique status since he joined."

"You're damn right we did!" Seimei said. "Well, Aku and Aki did, at any rate…"

Neji, Hinata, and Lee appeared after he spoke. Neji and Hinata looked out of breath while Lee looked like he lost a fight with twister. The others turned to see them run (or stumble in Lee's case) up to them.

"Lee!/Lee-san!" the group exclaimed and ran towards them. Lee groaned but gave them a thumbs up and a wide smile.

"I…I wasn't sure…that I'd make it…" he gasped. "G-Gai sensei tried to stop me…B-But I was able to escape! But I don't know if he was behind me or not! We need to go!"

Shikamaru nodded. "Hopefully Tenten and Kiba will show up any minute…"

They heard something hit the ground hard. They whirled around again and saw Kiba lying face down on the ground, groaning in misery with Akamaru beside him whining. Alarmed, his teammates ran to him. Hinata picked Akamaru up as Shino turned Kiba over on his back.

"Kiba! What's wrong?!" he asked in concern for his teammate.

"G-Got caught," he coughed. "S-Some * **Cough! Cough** * Someone threw a smoke bomb. C. C-Can't see straight now. C-Can't smell anything. Ears a-are ringing. Head hurts…"

Shino cursed. "There must have been a drug in the smoke! Kiba and Akamaru are down!" he told them. Shikamaru cursed, but before he could say anything, Tenten burst through the brush, eyes red and tears racing down her face.

"We need to leave! Now! Like right now!" she shouted at them. She was panicky, constantly looking over her shoulder and twitching periodically. Neji looked concerned.

"Tenten, are you ok…"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" she shrieked hysterically. Everyone was shocked at the outburst from the normally calm and collected genin. "WE NEED TO MOVE! I'VE GOT SHINOBI ON MY ASS! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

"Well, she's right about one thing," Aku said tersely. "We don't have time. Whatever you Rooks are up too, best do it now."

"There's an opening just behind those trees," Chōji said pointing to the aforementioned trees. "Kiba, Tenten, Lee, and I have chipped away at it enough that we now have an opening small enough that we can slip through, but we can only go one at a time."

Aku nodded. "Alright then. Shikamaru! This is your plan. I think you should make the next call." Shikamaru looked at the older shinobi in shock. "Your plan, your call. You get to see it to its fruition."

Shikamaru was shocked for a moment, but he quickly nodded. "Alright. Kiba's a liability at the moment, so he'll go after Naruto, who needs to get out first, not only for the sake of us getting him out of here, but because he's larger than normal chakra reserves will be able to help him hold off any shinobi that may find us." Naruto was going to protest, but after hearing Shikamaru's reasoning, he begrudgingly accepted.

"Aku, you and your siblings will go last, as you four are the better Taijutsu specialists out of all of us, and Lee looks to be in no condition to fight right now." The four nodded. "Now then, Neji, take…"

"Hey! Hold up!" someone called, making them all tense as five individuals Shunshined into the area. Two were chunin wearing the Konoha standard uniform, and Naruto quickly identified them as Kotetsu and Izumo, Konoha's gate guards. Standing by them was Seimei's team, Tobia and Yakumo Kurama. And beside them was…

"Anko?!" Aku shouted.

The purple haired kunoichi grinned. "You didn't think I was going to let you run away without me, did you, Aku-kun?" she purred seductively, making Aku's siblings snicker. Aku stayed strong though, not allowing himself to become flustered.

"I assume you were there when Seimei was trying to convince his team to join this little bandwagon?" he asked.

Anko grinned. "Yep! Best fucking decision I'm ever going to make! No one here besides you and your family like me, so it's cool! Well…Kurenai might, but she has Asuma. She'll be fine."

"And we won't abandon Naruto," Kotetsu said, with Izumo agreeing. "We follow Kakashi's motto to the letter, so if we abandoned our friend now, we'd be worse than trash." Naruto smiled at them, happy there were others besides the other Rookies and his clan that were loyal enough to leave the village for him.

"We can't bring them!" Ino shouted. "We've got too many people as it is now!"

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Neji stated, his Byukugan active. "We have shinobi about a mile away from us. They might find us if we don't hurry."

"They're already here," Shino stated. "And they seem willing to leave with us. Best go while we are still under the radar."

Aki shook her head, wanting to argue, but something told her it would be a waste of valuable time. "Enough debating!" she barked. "They'll come! And if they so much as step out of place, I'll kill them myself! Is that agreeable?!" The Rookies nodded fearfully. It was a well-known fact you didn't piss off Aki Chōwashibō and stay in good health.

Anko frowned, but it was Yakumo who spoke up. "Who the hell do you think you are you…" She was silenced when Aki turned to glare at her.

"Don't test me, little girl!" she growled, making the Kurama heiress gulp in fright.

"Aki!" Naruto shouted, making her turn to him. "We don't have time to argue! We've got to go!" He looked over at Kiba, who seemed to be getting worse. "I think we need to get Kiba some first aid and fast!"

"N-Naruto's right!" Hinata said, just barely stuttering over his name. "The shinobi are closing in!"

Shikamaru cursed again. "Fine! They can come along! Let's just hurry!"

No one disagreed.

* * *

 **With Danzō**

"Danzo-sama, I have a report concerning the Uzumaki's group," a ROOT nin said, bowing to the bandaged shinobi.

"Report," Danzō stated.

"The group has successfully made it out of the village and are currently heading North-west." Danzō grimaced. That was the same direction as Oto. "However…" the ROOT nin continued. "They've…ran into some problems before they left."

Danzō looked up from his letter. "Problems?"

"Tenten Higarashi was almost captured by ANBU. She activated seals around her family's shop and residence to try and cause a distraction, only for her to overload the seals and destroy the building, killing several shinobi that entered in an attempt to capture her. We suspect that this is from the side effects of the genjutsu preventing her from regulating the amount of chakra she put into the seals." Danzō nodded to that. He knew that the genjutsu left its victims in a dazed state for several minutes.

"Rock Lee was obstructed by Might Gai, but our forces were able to place a genjutsu on Might Gai in order for Rock Lee to escape. Kiba Inuzuka was confronted by his mother, but I was able to place her in a genjutsu to allow her to let her son leave.

"But before he could, several of his clan members and ANBU caught him and were about to take him into custody. I, shamefully, was too slow to stop this, so I threw the specialized smoke bomb you had Research develop to hopefully cause a distraction and disorient the Inuzuka. Sadly, it appears Kiba Inuzuka was also caught in the smoke and seemed to be affected quite badly by the smoke. He stumbled out of the smoke, but was forced to kill one of his own clan members," the ROOT ANBU finished. "I apologize, Danzō-sama. I should have been more attentive."

Danzō was grimacing worse now. "It's a setback, but not a major one. Worry about getting them out of Hi no Kuni for now. I don't care how you do this, just get it done."

"Sir!" The ROOT ANBU vanished, leaving Danzō to finish his letter.

* * *

 **An: Like I said, this chapter took a while to complete, but hopefully it was worth it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 _ **Spirit: Hello everyone. Sorry for taking too long in doing this chapter. Was busy with school, had a bad cold, and was doing my own stories. Manage to finish this though. Hope this will be worth the wait.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4: On the Run**

 _(Flashback)_

 _Aku didn't waste any time getting to the Hokage building and heading to the Hokage's office, where the Sandaime was at. "Hokage-sama," Aku spoke up, gaining the old man's attention from his paperwork._

" _Aku," The Sandamie said, putting down the pencil he was holding and smiling at him. "Come in. What seems to trouble you?" The young man sat down in front of the Sandamie with a grim expression._

" _Naruto Uzumaki came into my clan's yard." Sarutobi's pleasant expression evaporated and listened closely to what Aku is saying. "We saw him playing hide-and-seek with our youngest sibling. After talking with him a bit, we found out that he was hiding from a mob that wanted to torture him. Maybe kill him."_

" _He wasn't at his orphanage?"_

" _From what he told me, he probably got kicked out. He said that he didn't have anywhere else to go."_

 _The Sandamie sighed, and Aku can see that the man was feeling as old as he really was right now. "I would've thought the village wouldn't harm a child. But it seems I was wrong about that."_

 _"With respect Hokage-sama, you put too much faith in the people of the village," Aku said, keeping his voice calm and leveled. "They hated what the Kyūbi did to their homes, and feared what would happen if it escaped. And with that hatred and fear, they would find a way to let it out or fight back. Telling the villagers about the Kyūbi was sealed in Naruto gave them the target they wanted, regardless if he's just a child."_

 _Aku can see his words affecting the Sandamie greatly. Whether or not he knew Naruto personally, the Sandamie Hokage was a good person at heart, a peace maker, and harming an innocent child for something he had nothing to do with, probably horrified him. "Then what do you think we should do?" The Sandamie finally asked. "Many of the clan heads have tried to adopt Naruto, but the civilian council, as well as those in their clans, stopped them from doing so."_

 _Aku cross his arms and sighed. While the civilians are stupid, they weren't complete idiots and could do their homework well. They probably had the ninjas in the individual clans make sure the clan heads, or anyone, didn't adopt Naruto. And nearly every single villager hated Naruto, so he didn't see any of them adopting Naruto out of the goodness of their hearts. He sighed. Look like there's only one thing to do…._

" _I can adopt him." The Sandamie looked at Aku in shock. "The only people in my clan now is my siblings and myself, so there isn't any chance of somebody stonewalling me from the inside. Also, there isn't a chance of anyone trying to make Naruto miserable, seeing that Aki and I don't hold a grudge about the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha, and my younger sister adores him right now." Aki smiled a little at the thought of his youngest sister._

" _But what about the civilian council?" The Hokage asked him. "You know that they wouldn't approve of him."_

" _Then why should we tell them?" Aku countered. "Let's just keep them in the dark about this. It isn't any of their business whether or not Naruto gets adopted. It's my choice, a choice I'm sure the rest of my siblings will support."_

 _The Sandamie considered the suggestion. "But what about the missions you have to take? Don't forget, you're an ANBU of Konoha, as well as part of the shinobi council."_

 _Aku sighed. He, along with Itachi and Aki, graduated the ninja academy at a young age and rose through the ranks very quickly. That made him very busy most of the time. But even still, he still made time for his younger brother and sister._

 _With that in mind, he spoke up again. "I make time for my younger siblings Hokage-sama. I'm sure I can make time for one more." The Sandamie stare at him, making sure that he was serious about this. Finally, the Sandamie sighed for the final time, and folded his hands together._

" _I'll get you to get the adoption papers," The Sandamie told him, making Aku smile. That would ensure that no one stone walled him. "But before we do that, I will need you to speak to the ANBU assigned to protect young Naruto."_

" _And who might they be?" Aku replied back. "And I want those who would truly protect him, not the ones who will arrive at the last minute." The Sandamie smiled at Aku's insight. This was one of the reasons Aku rose in the ranks quickly; his sharp mind._

" _Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, and Yugao Uzuki." Aku raised an eyebrow at the names. He knew all three of them personally, having worked with them on many missions. He was the closest to Itachi._

" _Alright. Tell them to meet Aki and myself at my clan compound." The Sandamie nodded to this. With that, Aku got up and went to the door._

 _Before he left, the Sandamie spoke up. "Thank you for helping Naruto," he said to Aku, and the young teen could hear the smile coming from that. "I'm glad to see that there are those in the village willing to help him."_

 _Aku smiled. "Not all of us are blind Hokage-sama. Some of us can see a person for who they really are," He replied to him. "And besides, I'm not the kind of person who would turn his back on someone who needs help. No one in my clan has ever done that, and I ain't gonna dirty its name by doing so." With that, Aku left to go back home, and wait for the ANBU protecting Naruto._

 _(Flashback End)_

The group of twenty, if you count Akamaru, only went a couple of miles from the village until they had to stop, for several reasons. One is so that Lee can rest from the fight he had with Gai. Two is so Hinata can heal Kiba and Akamaru from the drug they got hit with. And finally, is so that Naruto can help figure out how to unseal the caged seal on Neji.

So the group set up a temporary camp, with Lee resting, Hinata, with Daria's help, healing Kiba and Akamaru, and Naruto working on the seal for Neji. Aku, Aki, Anko, Shino, Kotetsu, and Izumo keeping watch for any enemies, Konoha or otherwise.

"Never thought something like would happen, huh brother?" Aki said, gaining Aku's attention. "Leaving our clan home, leaving the village, and becoming rogue shinobi. Guess it shows how far we'll go for our family, blood or not."

Aku smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. At least we're willing to help Naruto. There were so few people that would when we were kids." In fact, if he hadn't talked to the Sandamie about adopting Naruto, then the blonde would've been facing a lot by himself. "And what do you think? Think we'll be able to succeed in this crazy mission?"

"Considering that some of us here is crazy strong or crazy smart, I think we have a chance," Aki responded back.

Aku sighed. "Let just hope we can find a new home to live in." Aku said. He thought about where they can go. The Rock and Cloud village is out of the question. Kumo had wanted the Chōwashibō's and Hyūga's Kekkai Genkai for themselves, and he's not letting the two Hyūgas, nor his family, become weapons or used for breeding. And Rock still hold a grudge against the Leaf Village.

Mizu was also out, due to it being a civil war right now. The places that he could think of where they might be all safe is the Nami and Natsu country, but it isn't a sure thing. ' _Wait a minute,'_ Aku thought to himself. ' _There is one place where we'll be most likely safe. Question is, is it still usable?'_

Before he could express his idea, he heard Naruto speak up. "Hey guys. I finished getting the seal off a Neji." Naruto told everyone, rolling the Hyūga scroll back up. That got everyone's attention, and momentarily distracted them from what they were doing.

"Really?" Hinata said, delighted to hear that her cousin didn't have that seal anymore. "C-Can we see?" Neji nodded and turn around to show them that the seal is gone. "T-That's wonderful Neji! N-N-Now you don't have to worry about the Main Branch using it on you."

Neji smiled a little at that. But before he could say anything, he saw a figure in the shadows, making his eyes widen. "Hinata-sama! Behind you!" Hinata spin around to see one of the Hyūga main branch members trying to paralyze her with a Jūken strike to her back.

But before he could, Neji ran up and kicked him away, making him land right behind one of the trees. The man slowly got up and scowled at Neji. "Step aside! Now!"

Neji glared at the man. "You try to harm Hinata-sama." Neji said coldly. "You will suffer for that." He fell into his Jūken stance, and activated his Byakugan.

The main branch Hyūga, however, growled and held up a hand seal first. "You need to learn your place, you filthy Branch clan bastard!" he shouted and activated the Caged Bird Seal before Neji could use his Kekkei Genkai. Neji tensed up, but felt no pain. He was shocked. Naruto had done it! He had done away with his seal. Grinning smugly, Neji couldn't help but comment, "It seems your only defense against me is now gone. Let's see how well you fare against me now! Byakugan!" The veins around his eyes bulged as his pupils dilated, signaling his Byakugan was now activated.

He was shocked. _'M-My vision is stronger_ ,' he thought. _'My Byakugan was never this good! I...I can see even further than before!'_

Was this because of the seal being released?

The Main branch Hyūga was shocked, before he snarled, "You little shit! How dare you remove your seal! You have no right to not have it on your forehead!" Foolishly, the Hyūga elder shot at Neji, palm outstretched for a palm strike. However, Neji saw it coming. Literally, he actually saw the attack before the elder had ever moved. He had shaken off his daze and reacted quickly. He was actually already moving before the attack was even halfway to him.

Spinning on his foot, Neji came up to the elder's side and slammed his middle and index fingers into the elder's side five times, instantly closing off the tenketsu. The man flinched under the quick assault, but Neji wasn't done. The younger Hyūga spun again and closed off four more tenketsu. The man gasped in pain, and Neji used this to come back around to the elder's front and send six more Jūken strikes at the man's torso.

Neji noticed something in the man's chest, close to his heart. He didn't know at the time, but it was an aneurysm. And when he sent a large amount of chakra to that point, it ruptured. The elder gasped in agony and fell over. Neji stopped and wondered what was going on until the elder began bleeding from the mouth. His eyes widened as his newly powerful Byakugan saw the man's blood being pumped out of the ruptured vein and his heart rate begin to slow.

Before he could do or say anything, he heard Aku speak. "We need to move. Now." Aku told everyone. "If the Hyuuga Elder, other shinobis might be close. Kiba, Lee, can you run?"

The two of them slowly got up, nodding. "Good. Then let's go." With that, the group started running once again.

* * *

 **(Konohagakure)**

New of the Rookies' departure, along with the departure of the Chōwashibō clan and a few more shinobis, quickly spread through Konoha. The news caused panic, as well as rumors and speculations, to spread around the population.

Many of them believed that Naruto, or the demon as they liked to call him, deceived all of them into betraying the village. Others know that those that have left the village did it for Naruto, but was shock that they were willing to betray the village for the blonde jinchūriki.

Iruka was having a bowl of ramen when he heard the news. His mind still whirled at the fact Naruto and the others left the village, as well as the fact that the civilian council tried to banish him out of the fire country. He was angry at the fact the counsel tried to do that, but shocked that an entire group of shinobis left.

He clenched his fist on top of the table. Naruto was like a little brother to him, and he liked the Chōwashibō siblings. The fact that they all left upsets him greatly.

"You okay there Iruka?" The chunin snapped his head up when Teuchi called out to him. The ramen chef look at him in concern. "You look a little spaced out."

"O-Oh. Yeah, I am." Iruka sighed, spinning the bowl of ramen with his chopsticks. "I'm just thinking of what happened recently."

Teuchi frown, knowing what he's talking about. Behind them, Ayame frown as well. "It's pretty shocking, to hear that most of the rookies as well as a few older shinobis abandoned the village."

"Yeah. It is," Iruka sighed. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the thought of Naruto abandoning the village. Kurenai, Asuma, and Kakashi, the latter just returning from a mission, were shocked to hear that their genin left the village.

Kakashi was floored at the news given to him, but was proud that Naruto's comrades and surrogate family were willing to leave the village with him to protect the blonde. Asuma was also saddened that his team chose to leave, but was glad that they're doing it to protect their comrade. Kurenai, however, blamed Naruto for her team leaving. She was part of the many who held a grudge against Naruto.

As he stared down at his bowl, Iruka thought about what he should do. Could he convince all of them to back, despite the council wanting to banish Naruto out of Hi no Kuni? Maybe he could talk to Tsunade, and see if she could stop that from happening, and perhaps get them all back to the village?

It wouldn't hurt to try. So with that in his head, he finished the rest of his food, payed for it, and left quickly.

* * *

 **(Outside of Konoha)**

The group was running at full speed, trying to put considerable distance between them, Konoha, and any nearby shinobi. Aku, Aki, Neji, Hinata, and Shikamaru are in front, leading, while Naruto is in the middle, and the jonin as well as taijutsu fighters are at the back (Seimei, Lee, Kiba, Anko, Kotetsu, and Izumo).

During their run, Aku and Aki noticed something about Tenten, Kiba, and Neji. The looks on their faces were all too familiar from those who had their first looks. Their looks were of guilt, distress, and/or horror. Aku sighed in frustration. This was possibly the worst time to think about something like that.

Aku look at his sister, silently telling her to talk to them. Aki nodded. "Kiba, Tenten, Neji, listen!" Aki called out, gaining the three's attention. "I have a guess on what on your mind, but for right now, stop focusing on it. Focus on the mission at hand."

"She's right," Aku spoke to help out his sister. "You've got to think about your comrades right now. We can talk more about this when we set up camp." Aku saw the three of them closing their eyes for a brief amount of time. They nodded to the elder shinobi, though they still looked very upset.

Aku smiled a little. That should do until they can set up camp somewhere. As he refocused all his attention back to the front, Hinata (Who had her Byakugan on and was more focus than her cousin), spotted something.

"There's someone up ahead! Hiding in one of the trees!" Hinata told Aku. The young man signaled everyone to stop, causing everyone to stop where they were at.

Aki, ever the speaker of her family, spoke up. "Whoever you are, come on out. Running away, or trying to attack us, won't do you any favors." They waited for a moment before someone slowly walked from behind the trees.

The person was a fifteen year old girl, with short black hair and pink eyes. She was currently wearing the Iwa shinobi outfit, consisting of a red long sleeve shirt and flak jacket.

Aku narrowed his eyes when he saw who she was. "And just what is the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage doing here?"

* * *

 **Dragon: And the plot thickens. Just what ARE Dragon and Spirit up too? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out, won't you?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **An: Sorry 'bout the wait. Work's been crazy. But on the plus side, I now have Saturdays off for a change (unless something changes again).**

 **Disclaimer: DragonKingDragneel25 and Spirit Soldier do not own Naruto**

 **Chapter 5-The granddaughter of the Tsuchikage**

"I'm not at liberty to discuss Iwa business with _Konoha scum_ like you," she said coolly. A few of the group took offense at her statement, but Aku held his hand up to silence them.

"Well, I can give you that, if it wasn't for the fact that you're so far into Hi no Kuni with no backup, and reports say that your grandfather isn't one to let you wonder so deep into Konoha territory without at least two Jonin escorting you. So tell me, what are you doing here? We're on a tight schedule and we can't afford to deal with you right now."

Aki saw the girl flinch slightly, but decided not to call her out on it yet. Not until she had more information.

The girl quickly recovered and narrowed her eyes at the group. "Well, how about how you're heading to Iwa's borders with such a large company of shinobi?" she shot back. "Iwa requires advanced notice if such a large group of shinobi is heading to our borders!"

"Then it's a good thing we're not headed to Iwa!" Naruto shouted at her. He looked to Shikamaru and asked, "We're not, right?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "No. We're heading this way as a diversion, then just before the border, we're following it northwest," he said strongly.

"A likely story," the Iwa kunoichi sneered. "What else would Konoha shinobi be doing this far out of their village if not for a miss-"

"There they are!" a voice shouted, interrupting the kunoichi. Suddenly, Konoha nin appeared behind Aku and the group. Anko cursed.

"Dammit! Battle stations people!" she announced before she herself was interrupted.

"I hear shouting! Over here!" a voice shouted. Aki, who had kept her eye on the Iwa kunoichi, was shocked to see the girl's eyes widen. Not in shock. But in terror. But before Aki could do anything, several Iwa shinobi and kunoichi appeared behind the girl.

"Kurotsuchi-sama!" one called out. "We found you!"

"And look at what else we found," another growled. "Konoha shinobi!"

"So you not only kidnapped the clan heirs, but are also consorting with Iwa, demon brat?!" a Konoha shinobi shouted.

"You Konoha mutts thought you'd kidnap the Tsuchikage's granddaughter? Utterly stupid on your parts!" they shouted. "Tsuchikage-sama will not be happy about your little stunt, Konoha!"

"As if we would fall for your lies, Iwa rats!" another Konoha shinobi sneered.

"So you deny kidnapping Kurotsuchi-sama?! Well, T&I will break you soon enough," another Iwa kunoichi snapped. Kurotsuchi's face, unnoticed by all except Aki, went pale as a sheet at the mention of the T&I department's name.

"Enough of this!" a Konoha shinobi shouted. "You Iwa rats are found aiding and abending a known criminal of Konohagakure no Sato, and you are now under arrest!"

"I think you're confused," an Iwa kunoichi hissed. "You Konoha dogs have kidnapped the granddaughter of our Tsuchikage-sama, and we're placing you under arrest!"

"Oh…" Seimei groaned.

"Crap!" Naruto finished.

"Company down!" Aku shouted. Everyone hit the ground as the shinobi of the warring villages began trading jutsus back and forth. The group quickly tried to get away from the kill zone, and Aki noticed Kurotsuchi race away from her fellow shinobi of Iwa. Frowning, she activated her Kekkei Genkai and chased after her.

"I won't!" Kurotsuchi cried out, shaking her head furiously as she fought back tears. "I won't go back to Iwa! Not after what I've learned! I won't let them take me back!"

"Kurotsuchi-sama! This way!" an Iwa shinobi behind her shouted, but she didn't stop. "Kurotsuchi-sama!" The shinobi chased after and almost grabbed her, but Aki appeared and slashed the man's throat. Kurotsuchi turned to try and stall him, but suddenly saw the shinobi's neck burst open with a spray of blood.

Before Kurotsuchi could process this, she was tackled to the ground. She tried to look up but only saw a blonde haired red eyed woman glaring at her. "You almost got my family killed," she hissed, making the Iwa kunoichi stiffen up. "Maybe not intentionally, but it's enough for me! Now, you're coming with us so I can get answers, and if you refuse, I'll throw you to those Iwa shinobi and let them leave with you! Got it?!"

Kurotsuchi paled and nodded quickly. Aki nodded and picked her up violently. "Now move!" she hissed. Kurotsuchi nodded quickly and raced for the tree line. Aki turned to the group and shouted, "Come on! This way!"

"You heard her!" Anko yelled. "Get the lead out!" The group had finally made it out of the trouble and raced for the tree line; Kiba was still disoriented from the drug, so he lagged behind until Shino and Naruto grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him off.

"They're getting away!" a Konoha shinobi shouted, but before he could give chase, his throat was slit by an Iwa kunoichi.

In a thicket next to the battlefield, two ROOT shinobi surveyed the chaos.

"This is getting out of hand," one ROOT muttered. "Now not only do we have to keep our own allies off the group, but now we have to stall Iwa. This a war waiting to happen."

"Maybe not," the other murmured. He was currently scrawling something onto a scroll.

"What are your writing?" the first asked.

"You know how my clan has been developing a jutsu to read an enemy's surface thoughts?" the second asked.

"Yes. Danzō-sama asked you to keep him well informed of the jutsu's progress," the first replied.

"Well, I think I just got it to work," the second responded. "And it revealed some interesting things in the Tsuchikage's granddaughter's mind."

"What interesting things?"

The shinobi quickly finished writing and rolled up the scroll. "Perhaps a way to prevent a war," the second answered. "I must get this to Danzō-sama at once. Continue following the group as planned. I'll report to Danzō-sama and give him the assessment. This is of the upmost urgency."

"Yes."

The group had finally caught up to Aki, and were surprised at her tag along. "H-Hey!" Kiba shouted, still held between Shino and Naruto. "What's the Iwa bitch doing in front?!"

"She's coming with us so I can get answers as to why she almost got us killed!" Aki answered curtly.

"Isn't that a bit extreme, Aki?" Seimei asked.

"No it isn't!"

"If it's any consolation, mutt, I don't like the situation either!" Kurotsuchi snapped back.

"Why you-"

"Enough!" Aku shouted. "Now's not the time for this! We're already in hot water! She was seen with us! Not having her with us would be worse if Iwa found us again!"

"Aku is right!" Anko shouted back. "She's, for all intents and purposes, our hostage as far as Iwa's concerned! Best to have her near us, to try and get out of another mess with Iwa, than to not have her and be forced to fight them!"

"Yeah, well, bring 'em on!" Naruto shouted. "No one hurting my friends while I'm on duty!"

"You think you can take on Iwa's best, you blonde rat?" Kurotsuchi asked snidely. "You're obviously delusional! No one can take on Iwa's best!"

"Our Yondaime did! And if Iwa tries to hurt my friends, not even the Bijū would stop me from protecting them!" Naruto shouted back at her.

"So you're delusional _and_ suicidal?! I knew Konoha was crazy, but this is absurd!"

"Look lady-!"

"Naruto, enough!" Aku barked. Naruto shut up instantly, though he looked rather put off about it. Aku turned to the Iwa kunoichi and said, "I'd recommend you try and be a little nicer. After all, you are in the presence of Iwa's enemies who also hold your life in their hands."

Kurotsuchi scowled, but didn't bother answering him. She just huffed and turned back to avoid looking at any of them. Naruto growled at her superior attitude, but Aku's voice broke through the group again.

"Everyone listen up! We've got no time now! We need to get out of Hi no Kuni pronto! After that, Konoha will be forced to stop chasing us and return to Konoha for further instruction or until Tsunade-sama bans us missing nin! So haul ass, and let's get the hell outta dodge!"

 **Konoha**

"Danzō-sama!" the Root nin exclaimed as he breathlessly knelt before his boss. He had pushed himself to his absolute limit to make it back to Konoha as fast as he did.

Danzō had been merely rereading his letter to the Daimyo when the nin came in, and calmly raised his eyebrow. "Report."

"Sir, the group had made it to the half way point as scheduled, but ran into a very big snag," the shinobi responded.

Danzō stood straight. "'Very big snag?'" he quoted. He didn't like that.

"They came across the Tsuchikage's granddaughter at the halfway point, sir."

' _Really don't like that.'_ Danzō narrowed his eyes at the shinobi. "Continue."

"Some words were exchanged, then Konoha nin arrived on the scene just as Iwa forces arrived as well, presumably to retrieve the Tsuchikage's granddaughter. However, she seemed spooked at their presence, and actively ran from them." Danzō was intrigued by this. "Aki Chōwashibō caught her and demanded answers from her, so she dragged her along with the group."

Danzō suppressed a groan. "Anything else?"

"I tested my clan's newest jutsu to read surface thoughts on the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, sir, and discovered this." He handed Danzō the scroll he wrote on. Curious, Danzō took the scroll and opened it. He read over the contents, and he felt his eye widen. He reread over the scroll multiple times before he began chuckling.

"Well, it appears Iwa isn't as spotless compared to us as they boast," he said, a dark smirk making its way across his scarred face.

"Is there any way you could use this to prevent war between us and Iwa, Danzō-sama?" the shinobi asked.

"Oh, I think I can work with this," the one eyed shinobi chuckled. "It would appear, however, that I am in need of Tsunade's assistance on the matter. Return to your post, and inform me when the group has left Hi no Kuni."

"What of the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, sir?"

"The group is much safer with her present than they are without her at the moment. She'll be counted amongst the group until something else comes up."

"Yes sir." The shinobi vanished, leaving Danzō to chuckle one more time before he left for Tsunade's office.

He had a war to prevent, after all.

 **An: Seriously? What are these two authors planning? Well, you'll have to wait for Spirit to complete the next chapter to find out won't you?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

Chapter 6: High Tension

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

" _So, how did the meeting with the Third go?" Aki asked when Aku got back home._

 _The male twin sat on one of the couches before speaking. "Seeing that no civilian is willing to adopt Naruto, and the clan heads are getting stonewalled by the civilians and their own people, we're adopting Naruto."_

 _Aki's eyes widened at this. "Wait, we're adopting him? Are you sure about that?" Aki questioned. "You already have so many responsibilities right now Aku, and Seimei and Daria are handfuls as it is."_

" _I know. But one more can't hurt. And it's not like we're lacking room," Aku countered calmly. "Plus, he needs help. We're one of the few who don't hold a grudge against him, and the only ones who haven't gotten stonewalled yet."_

 _Aki sighed. If it wasn't for the fact that her brother thought these things thoroughly before making a decision, she would've accused him of being soft. Still though…. "What about the civilians and shinobi? You know they might try to target us."_

" _And as soon as they do, they are going to regret it." Aku said seriously. Then he smiled slightly. "Besides, I know that as soon as they try to hurt any of us, you are gonna bring that pain back a thousand fold."_

 _Aki snorted. Out of the entire kunoichi population in Konoha, she quickly became known as the one you do not want to piss off. "Well, when you put up a good argument, I don't see any reason not to keep the kid with us. Daria-chan seems attached to him already."_

" _Yeah, that's what I thought to." Aku said, his smile getting a bit bigger. Aki returned it with a grin of her own. "By the way, we'll need to make sure that Seimei, Daria, and Naruto are in bed in a few hours. A few ANBU are going to be here; those that protect Naruto."_

" _Who?"_

" _Kakashi, Yugao, and Itachi." Aki perked up at the mention of Itachi and a small blush appeared on her face. Aku noticed that and smirked. He was very aware at the crush Aki had gain for the Uchiha._

" _Don't worry Imoto. I'm sure you'll have time to talk with your crush." Aki blushed even more before looking away and letting out a huff._

" _Shut it Aku. And besides, you're only a few minutes older than me." Aku chuckled in response before getting up._

" _Alright. Let's check up on the three, then prepare for the meeting."_

 _(Flashback End)_

Soon, the sun began to set. When they were three-fourths the way to their destination, as well as found a good area to rest, Aku and Aki had everyone take a small break. While he knew the Konoha shinobi, and possibly Iwa's, would be looking for them, he knew that they could only run for so long before passing out in exhaustion. They needed to rest and get back their stamina for the rest of the trip, in case anything else happened.

Plus, the fact that the two shinobi factions got distracted by fighting one another helped matters.

Now, the group was resting up, with Hinata and Aku fixing some rice balls for a quick bite for the group. Aki and Anko had their eyes on Kurotsuchi while Kotetsu and Izumo were keeping watch. Everyone else was sitting down and waiting for the food.

"Alright then. After we all eat, we should continue towards our destination. Once we get out of Hi no Kuni, we'll find a place to sleep and recuperate our strength fully." Shikamaru instructed, getting nods all around.

Aku turned his eyes to Kurotsuchi. "And after we get out of the country, we're going to talk."

Kurotsuchi grunted, but didn't do anything else to show her displeasure. "By the way, why are you all running anyway? Or am I the only one that has to answer any questions?"

Aki send a questioning look to her brother, to which he shrugged. "I don't see the harm in telling her. From the looks of it, she won't be reporting to her village anytime soon."

Aki nodded and sighed. "The reason we all left was because the council of the Leaf Village decided to exile our brother, the blonde over there, from Hi no Kuni," She explained, causing Kurotsuchi's eyes to widen. "None of us were going to allow that to happen. So the rookies here got him out of that farce of a trail, and we all gathered up to get out."

Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow. "Why? Why would you all go to such lengths for him?" she asked snidely, jerking her head towards Naruto, who stiffened in annoyance.

"He's our friend," Lee said with a tone.

"And I'm not sure how Iwa does things, but Konoha nin, at least the good ones, don't abandon one of their own," Ino said tonelessly.

"Then why did they banish him?" the Iwa kunoichi asked.

"Bureaucratic nonsense," Seimei snapped. "Because he tried his damnedest to bring back the 'last LOYAL Uchiha' and failed." He scoffed. "Idiots wanting a traitor back. Konoha's civilian council is a backwards and more crooked than a snake, which says a lot because I've met Orochimaru."

"Ok, but why him?"

"None of your business," Hinata snapped. She wasn't liking this girl's tone and the day's events were pushing her already thinned patience to the limit.

"Hey, I just asked a question!"

"It's because they think I'm the Kyūbi," Naruto said. Everyone looked at him in shock. "It's because I hold the Kyūbi inside of me, and the civilians were afraid of me."

She looked shocked for a moment. Heck, Naruto was shocked as well. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to share that, but it came rolling out of his mouth unbidden. He was contemplating why he said that when she spoke up again.

"You're a jinchuriki? Then why the hell are you defying your village, dammit?"

"What the hell are you talking about, brat?" Anko demanded.

"He's a jinchuriki! He's a weapon for his village! He should just take what his village says, and do it! He doesn't deserve to do anything else!"

The temperature dropped rapidly around the group, even the fire seemed to drop a few degrees. "What did you just say?" Aki quietly hissed, the anger evident in her voice. In the corner of her eyes, she and Aku noticed Naruto stiffen.

Kurotsuchi wasn't intimidated in the least. "I said he is a weapon for his village! Nothing more, nothing less!"

That did it for Hinata. Before anyone could blink, she slapped on the Iwa kunoichi across the face, hard enough to make said kunoichi lose her balance. While Kurotsuchi recovered from the sudden smack in the face, Hinata glare at her fiercely. "You heartless bitch!" Hinata shouted in pure anger, her Byakugan flaring up. "He's not a weapon for anyone! Especially not for those corrupted civilians!"

"Is that what all of you Iwa nin think of jinchuriki?!" Daria questioned, obvious anger on her expression. "If that's the case, then you Iwa nin are all heartless warmongers!"

That angered Kurotsuchi. "How dare you?! Iwa is a great village, with each of our ninjas ready to defend the village! Even our jinchurikis are loyal, while the leaf's jinchuriki is merely disobeying his users!"

By now, many in the group are really starting to hate her. The group's more hot-headed and temperamental shinobi, as well as Hinata, looks ready to tear her apart, while the calmest of the group merely look very pissed off. Naruto himself was shaking in pure fury.

Luckily, before anyone could try and kill her, Aku spoke up. "If that was the case, if Iwa is as great as you say, along with their shinobi, why are you running?"

That shut Kurotsuchi right up. Aku gave her a stern glare. "You're on thin ice Kurotsuchi. The only reason I'm not throwing you to the wolves is because we need you, for right now. And you need us. But there isn't anything stopping us from restraining you. Best remember that."

Kurotsuchi felt her blood ran cold, especially when looking into Aku's eyes. It was a look colder than ice. "Fine," She spat, turning away so she wouldn't show any fear.

Aku nodded. "Alright." After that, he quickly finished the last rice ball. "Everyone come and get a rice ball. We leave after we finish eating." The former Konoha nin nodded eagerly and grabbed a rice ball. Hinata and Aku were well known for their cooking skills, and a meal from the both of them together was something they wanted to try.

* * *

 **(Iwa)**

"What?!" The Tsuchikage, Onoki, shouted at the news his two shinobi gave him. He was just told that his granddaughter was kidnapped by Konoha nin, and he was immediately infuriated. "Are you sure?"

One of the Iwa nin nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. We saw her surrounded by a large group of Konoha dogs. We attacked, and Kurotsuchi tried to escape from them, but one of them recaptured her. A large group of them ran away while we were fighting the rest."

The Tsuchikage growled, his hands clenching into fists. "Those damn Konoha shinobi! It's bad enough they killed many of our shinobi in the war, now they kidnapped my granddaughter? I'm not going to let this slide!"

"Do you want us to continue our mission Lord Tsuchikage?" The ninja asked his leader.

Onoki nodded. "Those Konoha shinobi are not going to stop us from getting my granddaughter back. Rejoin your group at once, and maybe try to capture one of the Konoha shinobi. Our T & I will break through them." The two rock nin grin darkly at this and nodded before they shunshined out of the room.

After they left, Tsuchikage scowled to himself. "Those whippersnappers have made a fool out of us for the last time! Time to show the might of Iwa once again!" And promptly, his back broke once again, causing his face to twist in pain. "Ah! My back!"

* * *

 **(With Tsunade)**

"They what?!" Tsunade shouted, slamming her hands on the table. "Are you serious, Danzō?"

The man nodded. Once he got into Tsunade's office, he began to tell her about what happened. "I'm very serious Tsunade. Our nin and Iwa's fought one another, while the group escaped, bringing the Tsuchikage's granddaughter."

Tsunade groaned. "As if we didn't have enough to deal with. First several heirs and heiresses of different clans run off, not mention a few more of our own, and now we have to deal with a possible war."

"We might be able to avoid the latter, Tsunade." Danzō suggested. That caught Tsunade's interest.

"How do we suppose we do?" Tsunade questioned. Wordlessly, Danzō pull out a scroll and gave it to Tsunade. When Tsunade read it, her eyes widened in shock and horror. "This is barbaric! Where on earth did you get this info Danzō?"

"Does it matter?" Danzō rhetorically asked. "Either way, this will stop any war brewing between us and Iwa, if they don't want this information getting out."

Tsunade nodded. "For once, I agree with you." Tsunade said, rolling up the scroll. "Assuming that the info you got is trustworthy, we can a send a letter to the Tsuchikage about this, and stop any war from brewing."

"I can assure, this info is indeed trustworthy." Danzō assured. "You know as well as I do that I don't give any information that isn't hundred percent true." Tsunade sighed. Despite Danzō's questionable methods, she couldn't deny that.

"Very well then. Once I finished this damn paper work, I'll start on that letter." Tsunade said. Danzō nodded before getting up and leaving the room. Not soon after, Shizune enter the room. "Is there something you need Shizune?"

"Yes milady. Iruka want to see you."

Tsunade wasn't surprised at this. She expected him to come here. "Alright. Bring him in." A second later, Iruka walked into the room. "What is it you need Iruka?"

The chunin took a deep breath before speaking. "I would like to join the search for Naruto and the others."

* * *

 **(With Kakashi)**

' _Never thought Team 7 would end up like this.'_ Kakashi thought as he walked through the village. He couldn't focus on anything, not even on his favorite series, due to the shocking news he had been received. And since Tsunade-sama had forbidden him and the other senseis from chasing after their genin teams because of the possibility of conflict of interests between them, he decided to take a stroll before the sun sets. ' _First, Sasuke left the village and joined Orochimaru. Now, Naruto left the village to escape banishment. Can't blame him for that though.'_

He was glad that Naruto's adopted family, along with the rookies and other shinobi, stood by Naruto's side and helped him. While it was odd that all of them were willing to leave their families to save him, he was glad that they were not abandoning their comrade. Like the council was about to do.

He was a bit disappointed in Sakura, though. Not just because she decided to not join the rest of the rookies, but because of how she treated Naruto when he got back. ' _I hoped Sakura and Sasuke took my nindo to heart. Guess I was wrong.'_ Hopefully, when she thought about her actions, she would realize how badly she treated her teammate and friend. She would have to, considering all of her friends left with Naruto.

When he got near the village gate, he saw Iruka starting to head out of the village. "Iruka." Kakashi called out. The man turned around when Kakashi called him. "You're planning to go find Naruto and the others, aren't you?"

Iruka nodded. "Maybe I could talk to them about coming back to Konoha. See if we can stop the council from banishing them."

"Are you sure you can convince them?" Kakashi asked him. "And even if you do, are you sure you could stop the civilian council, the stubborn people they are, from banishing Naruto?"

Iruka closed his eyes. "I have to try." Iruka said quietly. "And if I can't, well, I wish all of them the best of luck. But I at least have to try." Kakashi nodded.

"I wish the best of luck to you Iruka." Kakashi said. Iruka nodded before turning towards the gate and walking out. "Be careful out there."

Iruka didn't respond, merely kept moving. After Iruka was out of site, Kakashi went back to his house, to hopefully catch some sleep. But he could not shake off the bad feeling that crept into his heart.

* * *

 **(With the group)**

Naruto and the group has been running for a whole night straight. They occasionally took breaks, but other than that, they didn't let themselves stop for too long. Too long might have Konoha or Iwa catch up to them.

"How long until we get out of the borders of Hi no Kuni, Shikamaru?" Aku asked the instigator of the entire plan.

"It shouldn't be long. We're almost there." Shikamaru answered. "Once we get to the borders, Konoha will have to stop chasing us. And since we will be in Oto, Iwa will have to hold off for a while, otherwise they risk a war with Orochimaru."

"That'll give us a lot of time to rest." Ino said in exhaustion. "I'm getting tired of running."

"I agree." Yakumo agreed with her fellow kunoichi, the same amount of exhaustion in her voice.

Seimei grinned at his female teammate. "Come on Yakumo, show some more stamina! The rest of us are only a little bit tired!"

"Well excuse me that all of you focus on ninjutsu and taijutsu, abilities consisting of moving around a lot!" Yakumo snapped at the young Chōwashibō male. "I can only focus on genjutsu!"

"That's not a good excuse, considering Anko put us through a lot of vigorous training, even with your weak bod." Tobia spoke, getting a glare from the girl. "In fact, since your body is getting stronger due to said training, Anko is considering increasing it near our level."

Yakumo paled. Especially when she saw the sadistic grin on Anko's mouth. "Get ready for harder training girly!" Anko said sadistically, earning a whimper from the genjutsu only user.

"We're almost there!" Aku announced to everyone, getting their attention and their focus. "Let's pick up the speed!" However, before they could go any faster, something stopped in front of them, causing all of them to stop.

They were tense, ready to face the person in their way, when they recognized who the person in front of them was. Everyone's eyes widened. Especially Naruto's. "I-I-Iruka Sensei?" Naruto stuttered out.

The chunin smiled at his surrogate younger brother. "Hello Naruto. Chōwashibō family."

* * *

 **Dragon: Things are heating up. Just what's going to happen next?**


	7. Chapter 7 (Arc 1 End)

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **Dragon: Okay, so this chapter was kicking my tailbone for days! I hope you don't hate me too much after it, because WARNING: Character death.**

* * *

Chapter 7-Tradegy

 **In Konoha**

Kakashi and the other senseis had been forbidden from seeking out their genin teams. Kakashi was somewhat ok with this, because he felt Iruka could handle this. He was the one closest to Naruto, after all. If anyone could talk some sense into his knuckleheaded student, it was Iruka.

However, he was also frustrated. He couldn't just sit here and do nothing. He had to help. And that was exactly what he planned to do. Luckily, he was not alone.

"Are you sure you should be walking around like that, Gai? You're pretty wounded," Asuma commented as he, Kakashi, and Gai made their ways to a secluded part of the woods.

"Don't worry about me, Asuma! My flames of youth still burn strong!" the bruised Gai said exuberantly, his arms raised high.

"Rrrrriiiiight," Asuma said slowly. To Kakashi, he asked, "How are we going to get to them in time?"

"I'm hoping Iruka can stall them long enough that we can reach them before the border," Kakashi stated. "Then we can arrive and hopefully…" He was stopped by a loud meow. The group stopped and saw a black cat staring at them. Kakashi's eye widened.

"Where'd the cat come from?" Asuma asked, but Kakashi wasn't listening.

A black cat. This was the second time a black cat had ever crossed Kakashi Hatake's path. The last time was the day before Ren was captured and she killed herself on Kakashi's **Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)** , to protect the village.

"Come on, guys! We need to move!" Gai shouted, and ran off ahead. Asuma shook his head and ran after him. Kakashi stood starting at the cat for a moment, before Gai shouted out again, "Kakashi! Hurry up!"

Two other times a black cat had crossed his path. And just like the last two times, Kakashi ran by it. Only this time, he was dreading what he'd lose this time.

* * *

 **With the group**

Naruto stood slack jawed at the man before him and the group. Iruka just stood stoically in front of the group. The oldest of the group tensed at the possible threat he posed while the younger ones stood shocked at their Academy instructor's appearance. Kurotsuchi simply frowned at him.

"Who's this scumbag?" the Iwa kunoichi growled, making the Rookies glare at her hotly.

Iruka looked surprised at her presence. "What are you doing with an Iwa kunoichi?" he asked.

"I just happened to be in the neighborhood and they said they'd pay me to show them a good time, if you know what I mean," Kurotsuchi answered sarcastically, earning more glares from the group.

Anko, however, chuckled. "Maybe there's hope for you yet, girly," she said.

"Oh, lucky me," she grumbled. Iruka just shook his head and decided to not worry about it, but before he could speak up, Aki brought attention back to him.

"What are you doing here, Iruka?" Aki asked in a hard tone, her fingers toying with a few kunai.

The scarred chūnin sighed. "I was hoping to convince you lot to return to Konoha with me," he admitted, hoping honesty would be the best start.

"Well, forget it, Iruka sensei!" Ino shouted. "We're not going back! Not with what they're planning to do to Naruto!"

"Ino, I know it's bad, but we can fix it," Iruka attempted, but Chōji spoke up then.

"They had the Daimyo's signature on the order!" he shouted. Iruka winced. That made this more difficult. Time for a different tactic.

"Then let's go to the Daimyo, then!" Iruka said. "Straighten this out! Your dedication to your friend is admirable, but you don't have to just leave the village to protect Naruto!"

"And who's to say the Daimyo isn't ignorant of the situation?" Shikamaru asked. "Who's to say he doesn't agree with the citizens? The risk was too great to attempt. This way, we make our point, and Naruto's supported against any who might try and hurt him."

"At what cost, Shikamaru?" Iruka countered. "Think about the Akatsuki. Naruto told me how he was confronted by Itachi. And from what I've heard, every other Akatsuki member is an S-ranked criminal. Do you think that 13 Rookies, three Jōnin, and two chūnins can take on such a group?"

"Well, I guess we'll find out!" Naruto said. "I may not have asked for their help, but I'm glad I have friends that would stand by me despite my…circumstances, and if they think this is for the best, I'll fight tooth and nail to help them!" He looked conflicted as he looked back at one of the first people (besides his family) to see him as Naruto, and not a demon fox. "Please move out of our way, Iruka sensei. I don't wanna fight you."

"I don't want to fight you either, Naruto," he said softly. "But I can't let you do this. Not when there's other options."

"There are no other options," Aku said forlornly with a shake of his head. "We only have the one."

"But it's absurd!" Iruka protested. "Is leaving the village really your only option?!"

"The only one that has Naruto-kun safe!" Hinata told him hotly.

"You would leave your families to do so?!"

"You do see them out here right now, right?" Aki said lowly to the chūnin. "They're in it for the long haul, more so than the others who joined us." She turned to Iruka and gave a small smile. "Iruka, I know you care about my little brother. So, I'm going to give you this one chance: join us. Konoha has done Naruto wrong for the last time. For what you mean to Naruto, please consider joining us now, or I'll have to move you. Painfully, if necessary."

Iruka looked shocked at the offer, but before he could even think on it, a shout resonated across the field: "Kurotsuchi-sama! We've found you!"

"There's the damn demon! Kill it!"

"Shit! Run!" Aku shouted, but it was too late. They were slowly being surrounded. Aki cursed and activated her Kekkei Genkai.

"No choice. Fight through!" she shouted. This had the group bolting, trying to break through wall of ninja around them. Kurotsuchi was forced to fight an Iwa nin, who had to dodge her attacks as she swiped at him with a kunai.

"Kurotsuchi-sama!" the nin protested. "Why are you fighting me?! I'm here to take you home! Away from these dogs!"

"I won't go back!" she shouted at him. "Not when there's a chance I could end up like Deidara because Ji-sama believes I'd become a threat one day!"

"What are you talking about?!" he shouted. "The Tsuchikage would never do that! Especially to you of all people!"

"I thought the same! But not anymore!" she shouted and shit the man's throat. His body turned to rubble, signifying it as a rock clone. Kurotsuchi cursed and whirled around to defend herself against the shinobi.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Iruka found themselves fighting a Konoha and Iwa nin respectively side by side. Naruto summoned some clones and began fighting the guy in front of him while Iruka blocked a sword swing with a kunai. "Naruto! Stop this!" the chūnin pleaded. "There's got to be another way!"

"Not from what I see, Iruka sensei!" Naruto shouted, punching the shinobi before him. "The damage has been done, and Konoha wants me gone or dead!"

"You're damn right, demon brat!" the Konoha nin shouted. He tried to stab Naruto, but all he hit was a clone.

"Naruto! Think this through!" Iruka pleaded, dodging another swipe at him.

"I am!" Naruto shouted. "It's only this one seems to be the right one!" He punched the Konoha nin away from him and started to form a Rasengan with a clone's help. Iruka's eyes widened as he stared at the attack and how it would hit the nin before the blonde.

"NARUTO NO!" he shouted and quickly substituted himself with the nin. In hindsight, it wasn't a good idea. Because as soon as he did, the Konoha nin had his throat slit by the Iwa nin, and Iruka appeared in front of Naruto…

Just in time for the Rasengan to be shoved into his chest.

For Naruto, the world seemed to stop.

The noise around him seemed to vanish entirely.

His face slowly morphed into a look of horror at the slowly creeping expression of pain on the face of one of the first people to look at him as a real person. The swirling orb of chakra in his hand slowly dug into the chūnin instructor's chest, shredding his skin and breaking his ribcage. Naruto tried to back off from the attack, but it was too late. He lost concentration for the briefest of moments, and the Rasengan destabilized. The ball of chakra exploded, and sent Iruka Umino spinning away from the blond jinchuriki and into several trees.

Naruto fell to his knees, staring incomprehensively at where his favorite instructor had flown. The shock had yet to settle as he felt someone pulling at his arm, yelling something at him. He couldn't see anything other than the trench his Rasengan had made. When the implications of what he just did finally registered in his brain, the world seemed to restart around him. Sound harshly returned to his ears as he let out a raw, hoarse scream; "IRUKA SENSEI!"

He tried to race towards the area his pseudo brother figure flew off to, but he was held back by firm hands on his arm. "LET GO OF ME!" he shouted. "IRUKA SENSEI IS HURT! I'VE GOT TO HELP HIM! LET GO!"

"No Naruto! We've got to move!" a voice shouted, and he knew it was Aki. But even still, Iruka was in the tree line, hurt or worse! He couldn't just leave him! He tried to struggle harder, but his sister's unrelenting grip began dragging him away.

"NO! LET ME GO! IRUKA SENSEI IS STILL OVER THERE! AKI, LET ME GO! IRUKA MIGHT DIE! AKI! AKI! _**AKI!**_ " But she didn't let go, she merely kept dragging him to the others waiting in the tree line, leaving the fighting Konoha and Iwa shinobi to deal with each other.

All the while, tears flowed down her beautiful face.

* * *

 **Konoha**

Tsunade sighed in exhaustion as she stared at her desk, which for once wasn't filled with mountains of paperwork. She had sense tossed all that to the floor in order to stare at all the information she had been given currently. A shinobi walked into the room and said, "Hokage-sama, I have the order you requested…"

"Leave it on my desk, and leave," she ordered, not looking up. The shinobi was startled by the tone.

"O-Of course, ma'am," he stated and left the rice and sake on the desk and left quickly. She looked up to see the chopsticks were sticking straight up in the rice. She scowled as a feeling of dread creep into her system.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," she mumbled.

* * *

 **With Kakashi**

Kakashi tensed, feeling something was wrong. VERY wrong. He sped up, hoping it was just him thinking the worst…

* * *

 **With the group**

Aki and Aku were forced to knock Naruto out in order to keep going. The group were going at full speed, trying to outrun their pursuers. Kurotsuchi was very pessimistic about their current predicament.

"They're going to catch us!" she screamed.

"Turn left at the large tree! It will take us to Oto!" Shikamaru shouted. "After entering their borders, they'll be forced to call it quits or risk being caught in hostile territory!"

"I highly doubt that will detour them!"

"Then the group of Oto nin closing in on our entry point will slow them down!" Neji supplied. "If we can make it through before they see us, they'll run right into our pursuers and they'll be forced to stop or risk causing an international incident!"

"It's the best we got right now!" Aku said, securing Naruto on his back. "Pick up the pace! NOW!" They didn't protest as they tried to pour on the speed.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, KONOHA DOGS!" an Iwa nin shouted.

"KILL THE DEMON!" a Konoha nin screamed.

"Turn now!" Shikamaru yelled, and the group quickly followed his orders. As a singular unit, they jumped over the Oto/Konoha border and vanished into the forest around them. The Konoha and Iwa nin tried to follow but soon were met with an Oto patrol.

"Who goes there?!" an Oto nin demanded, causing an Iwa nin to slit his throat. This caused a massive fight between Oto, Konoha, and Iwa. And the group they were pursuing to disappear into enemy territory.

* * *

 _ **Arc 1 end**_


	8. Chapter 8 (Arc 2)

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **Dragon: Hey guys! Sorry about the break from this story. Spirit and I agreed to let it sit for a while, while we focused on our own individual stories. But we're back, and with the second arc ready and waiting! Hope y'all enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Weight**

 _(Flashback)_

 _The meeting with Kakashi, Yugao, and Itachi didn't last too long. After making a schedule for guard duty, the three ANBUs left, and Aku and Aki decided to go to bed._

 _Hours after, Aku began dreaming about the Third Great Ninja War. Memories of the mission he went on, the people he killed, comrades he saw die beside him flooded in his dream. The memories caused him to scream._

" _Aku! Aku, wake up!"_

 _Aku woke up with a gasp, sitting up abruptly. Memories of kunai clashing, blood being splattered, men and women screaming in agonizing pain is kept fresh in his head._

" _Aku, Aku, calm down. It's just a dream. Just a dream." Hearing his sister's voice, he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. In. Out. In. Out._

 _Finally, he turned his eyes to see the concern stare of his twin sister. "I've been screaming?" He asked her. A nod was his response._

" _You were dreaming about the war, weren't you?" She asked him softly. He sighed and nodded. The two of them are in his room, which consist of a single bed, a desk, and a shelf of weapons, books, and scrolls. His sets of armor is hung up on the wall, both his ANBU armor and his clan's armor._

 _Aku nodded. "It something I can't forget." He whispered. "All the death and destruction….the screams, metal meeting flesh….it's gonna be haunting my mind for a long time."_

 _Aki hugged her brother in comfort in response. She couldn't say she knew how he felt. Unlike Aku, she was spared the horror of fighting in the war. The only person who could relate to him is Itachi._

" _Did Daria, Seimei, or Naruto hear me?" Aku asked Aki, bringing the twin out of her thoughts._

" _They did, but I brought them back to sleep." Aki reassured him. "Told them that I'd handle it."_

 _Aku nodded. "When do you think we should reveal the news to Naruto?"_

" _I say after we fill out the adoption papers." Aki stated. "I don't have any doubts that we can adopt him, but better safe than sorry."_

" _It pays to be paranoid. Especially if you're a shinobi." Aku said with a chuckle. Finally, laid back down on his bed. "Well, we better get some sleep before the adoption. It would be hard to deal with villagers if you're irritated."_

" _Yeah." Instead of going back to her own room though, Aki slid into bed and lied down beside Aku. That didn't surprise Aku, though he did let out a sigh. Whenever he had a bad dream, his sister would stay by his side in case the nightmares reappeared._

 _The first few times he argued with her about, but each time she remained stubborn about her position. Eventually, he gave up and accepted it. His sister was very protective of her family, especially after the Kyūbi attack years ago._

 _(End Flashback)_

"Why did it have to rain the moment we lost our pursuers?!" Ino shouted as the group ran through the rain. Like Ino said, soon after they last the Konoha and Iwa nin, it began pouring out rain in a matter of minutes.

"I don't know, and right now, I don't care! Let just find somewhere to take cover quickly!" Seimei stated, trying to cover his head.

"Neji, Hinata, look for any place nearby to rest!" Shikamaru ordered. The Byakugan users nodded and activated their Kekkei Genkais.

After a moment of looking, Neji spotted a cave nearby. "There's a cave near the left of us. It's deep enough to give all of us plenty of shelter, as well as we make camp."

"Then let's go there!" Aku stated. "Let's go!" With that, the group moved to where the cave was at. They all quickly got inside to escape the rain.

Seimei look back outside to see it pouring. "It's really raining cats and dogs out there," The younger Chōwashibō male said. "Good thing we found this cave so quickly."

"Not quickly enough," Ino complained, looking at her dripping clothes. "My clothes are all wet."

"Same here," Yakumo whined with Ino, holding up her wet kimono slightly.

Meanwhile, Kiba and Akamaru moved away from the others before shaking the water off of them. "Phew. That feels better," Kiba sighed in relief. "Don't you agree, Akamaru?" The dog bark in confirmation.

Aku laid the unconscious Naruto on the wall of the cave before speaking to Shikamaru. "So, I assume this will be a good place to recuperate?"

Shikamaru nodded. "We'll set up camp here, and have our bodies, as well our minds, rest up," The young Nara instructed. "After we've rested well enough, we should talk where to permanently stay at."

"You mean finding a new home?" Tenten asked. A nod was her response.

"Okay, then. Everyone set up camp," Aki called out to everyone. "Kotetsu, Izumo, can you two watch for any hostile shinobi near the cave?"

"We will," Kotetsu agreed to. "Will be like watching the gate of Konoha."

"You mean when we had to sit around all day, not doing much of anything?" Izumo remarked.

Kotetsu chuckled. "Yeah. Except we'll need to be a bit more alert."

"True." As they bantered, the two moved up to entrance of the cave.

Aku began digging through his bag. "I'm going to make begin dinner," Aku told the others. "Hinata, would you mind helping me out here?"

"O-Okay, Aku." The former heiress help gather the ingredients while Aku began a fire.

Soon, camp was set up and everyone was waiting for Aku and Hinata to finish the stew they're making. A big bowl of rice that was made before the stew was set aside.

After a moment of silence, Ino spoke up. "So, we actually did it," Ino breathed out. "We actually defected from Konoha."

"Yeah. It's really hard to believe," Tobia agreed, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't wake up thinking that I'll leave home, that's for sure."

"Don't forget the fact that we're traveling with the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage," Seimei added in.

Kurostuchi huffed. "It isn't like I enjoy traveling with you Konoha dogs."

"Well fuck you too, you Iwa rat!" Kiba growled. The two glare at one another with obvious hatred.

Aku decided to cut in before it could escalate. "The two of you, stop it. Insulting and glaring at each other isn't going to do anything right now." The two turn away with a huff.

Tenten looked down. "And now, we're at the point of no return. E-Especially since..." She sniffled. "I killed so many of our fellow nin." Her frame shook as she fought off her sobs. "I...I didn't mean too...I-I only t-t-tried to use my family's store's seals t-to disorient them! B-But I couldn't think straight when one grabbed me and I..." She grabbed her head and squeezed it tightly. "I'm so sorry..." she whispered brokenly.

Lee, along with a few others, looked at the girl in concern and shock, while Neji and Kiba bowed their heads, remembering their kills. "...You're not alone, Tenten," Neji said, voice heavy with guilt. "I killed the Hyūga elder earlier, remember?" His mind slackened at the thought. Despite knowing it was inevitable that he would have to kill, he never expected his first kill would be one of his own kin. His body felt weighed down, like he was wearing Gai-sensei's and Lee's weights at the same time. He felt numb, so numb that it was hard to feel anything.

"And remember the smoke that covered my senses badly?" Kiba reminded them. "Well, when I was still inside the smoke bomb, I….I ended up killing one of my clansmen," he whispered, his hands shaking badly. He stared down the clean digits, but he could still feel the blood coating them. Staining them. He fought off the urge to wipe them on his jacket, knowing there was nothing on his fingers to wipe off.

The rookies looked at Kiba and Tenten in shock while the chūnin and jōnin held sympathetic and understanding looks. However, before anything else could be said, a groan entered the room, getting everyone to turn the source. The source was Naruto, who's slowly waking up.

"Uh...w-what happened?" Naruto mumbled under his breath. Everyone winced and tried to think of a way to tell him what had happened.

Kurotsuchi, however, didn't care about his well-being. "You hit that Iruka guy with your Yondaime's cursed jutsu and sent him flying through the forest, and you most likely killed him," she said bluntly. "You did preceded to grow majorly hysterical and-"

"KUROTSUCHI!" Aku growled fiercely, making the girl stiffen in terror at the irate jōnin, but the damage had been done.

Naruto's eyes grew wide as he remembered the last several hours. His form shook as he stared down his hands. He tried to think of...something. Anything! But all he could see was Iruka's pain-filled face before the man was sent flying away from him.

"I….I killed Iruka?" Naruto finally said, his eyes now filled with horror. He shook his head. "No….no, he can't be dead! He can't be!" Getting on his feet, Naruto turn to his adopted older brother and sister desperately. "Aku, Aki, we need to go back! See if he's-"

"Naruto, we can't go back." Aki said softly, her eyes getting filled with tears. Beside her was Daria, who clung onto and buried herself into the older sister's side, tears sliding down her cheeks. "The Konoha and Iwa nin are still hunting us. We don't know even know if Iruka is still at the same spot."

"B-But-"

"Besides, Naruto….it's extremely doubtful that he's alive," Aku said gravely. He hated to break the news to his adopted little brother, but he couldn't hide the facts from him. That would only hurt him in the long run. "No one could've survive an attack like that."

That got Naruto silent. The blonde looked down at the ground, despair clear on his face. Around him, his fellow rookies developed grieving looks, the girls silently crying at the loss of their former teacher.

"Iruka…." Naruto slumped onto his knees, the look of horror still etched onto his face. Tears slowly build up into his eyes. "I….I killed my teacher….my precious person…." A sob choke through Naruto's throat as his tears started sliding his cheek.

Daria, seeing her brother crying, moved from Aki and went over Naruto's side. The young girl wrapped Naruto in a hug, something the whiskered blonde returned tightly. Off to the side, Aki let the tears from her eyes side while Seimei clenched his fist and teeth, memories of seeing Iruka getting launched away hitting them hard.

"Tch. Pathetic." Those words brought everyone out of their trance, and their attention was brought towards Kurotsuchi. She looked at them condescendingly. "Crying over the fact that you killed someone? Did you forget that your ninjas? Rogue ones at that."

Anger slowly build up in several of them. Slowly, Aki stood up from the wall she was laying on. "Oh boo-hoo, you killed your own people. Get over it. You should've expect to do that when running away," Kurotsuchi continued. "If you didn't, then you're all idio-"

Before she could finish, a blur pass through the group and pinned her to the wall. The blur was Aki Chōwashibō, her Kekkei Genkai active. Red slitted eyes glared menacingly at Kurotsuchi. "One word!" Aki hissed venomously. "One more word, I dare you! And you can see whether or not you'll survive!"

Kurotsuchi is both shock at the speed the now blond girl showed, as well as terrified of the threat and venomous thrown at her. Maybe she should learn to keep her mouth shut around these Konoha nin. While she wasn't afraid of the rookies, Aku and Aki terrified her right now.

Aku kept his eyes on Aki and Kurotsuchi. If Aki actually does try to kill the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, he'd have to stop her. They still needed her with them, and killing her would only have Iwa targeting their group even more. Still, he would let Aki send the fear of kami inside the girl. He didn't take kindly to her condescending and heartless words.

When the Iwa kunoichi didn't say any more, Aki dropped her on her butt. Kurotsuchi quickly scrambled as far as possible. After her hair and eyes went back to normal, Aki spoke once again. "Now, tell us the reason why you are running from the rock village." She demanded. "And if I have to guess, it has something to do with their T&I division."

Kurotsuchi's eyes widen in shock, and her skin paled at the mention of that group. "How did you-"

"I saw your reaction when we got surrounded by rock and leaf shinobi the first times," Aki answered curtly. "Now, tell us. What the hell does the T&I do that made you pale so much?"

Everyone payed attention to the conversation, momentarily pushing off four of the rookies killing Konoha nin. Anko was especially interested, seeing that she was in the T&I group. She knew that what they did wasn't pretty, but from the looks of it, Iwa's T&I division was doing something worse than usual.

After a moment of silence, in which Kurotsuchi gathered her thoughts, the Iwa kunoichi began speaking. "I found out two things about my home village," She said quietly. "I'll save what the T&I did for last though. The first thing was that….was that they frame fellow Iwa shinobi of horrible crimes before executing them."

Several eyes widened in shock at this. "What?" Kiba growled in anger. "They make up some sort of crime before blaming it on their own people? Their own shinobi?"

"If it looks like they're a threat to the old man in any shape or form, he'll take steps to make sure they're executed or sent out as rogue nin," Kurotsuchi informed them, her hands gripping in anger. "He doesn't care how much loyalty one of us show, if there are any signs in his eyes, he'll make sure to get rid of you."

That angered the Konoha nin, especially Naruto and the Chōwashibō family. Many, if not all of them, valued loyalty to their village, as well as their comrades and family. To hear that Iwa would frame and cast out or kill their own people, just because they seem like a threat, made their blood boil.

"And what's the other thing have you heard?" Aku inquired, his eyes narrowed slightly to express his anger.

At that, she shivered, pulling her knees up to her chest. "They're…..inhumane with their treatment of prisoners," She confessed quietly. "Treated them like mice. The T&I group tortures them, not for info on their enemy, but as mean to get powerful jutsus. They performed experiments similar to Orochimaru's."

Several paled at this revelation. Aku and Anko is the worst. The two of them have seen the results of his experiments, saw what he did, Anko more so. To hear that a village is doing Orochimaru like experiments is hard to imagine. Even Kumo wouldn't go that far.

"Seriously? There experiments is as bad as that sicko?" Seimei questioned in disbelief. "No way. That isn't possible."

"Trust me, I would love to believe that," Kurotsuchi retorted, though her tone didn't have the usual bite when talking to them. "But I saw the proof myself. Those experiments were used to make other ninjas loyal to Iwa, as well as steal Kekkei Genkai. Any Iwa shinobi that was accused of treason, and is still alive and didn't get the chance to run, are a part of those experiments."

Everyone was horrified at what they're hearing, especially the rookies. True, Konoha hasn't been friendly with Iwa for a long time, but they would have never imagined them doing something like that. "I don't think I want to know what are the exact experiments are," Ino moaned.

"Yeah. If you say they are as bad as Orochimaru's, I'm taking your word for it," Kiba said with a grimace. He had seen the results of those experiments in the mission to get back Sasuke, and it wasn't something he would like to remember.

Naruto, Neji, Lee, Chōji, and Shikamaru silently agreed with their canine friend.

Aku was the first to recover. "Alright then. We'll avoid the rock as far as possible." He then noticed Anko clenching her fist angrily, slightly shaking. He gently placed his hand on hers. "Hey. You're alright?"

Anko took some deep breaths before turning to Aku. "Yeah, I am." Aku stared at her before nodding.

"Alright. Just let me know if you want to talk about it." Turning his attention back to the group, he spoke up. "Alright genin, after dinner is over, get some sleep. It's been a long day for all of you, so you'll need the rest. We'll reconvene about what will be our next move tomorrow." He then went over to the pot of stew above the fire. "And speaking of dinner, the stew should be done by now. Hinata, you mind helping fix up dinner?"

"H-Hai, Aku." Soon, the two served everyone a bowl of stew and rice. Since Kotetsu and Izumo were guarding the cave, Aku went over to where they were at to give them their meal.

* * *

(Later)

Soon, the rookies and Kurotsuchi were all asleep. The ones who had their first kills looked the most exhausted out of the group. The older chūnin and the jōnin stayed up, their guard up for anything. Even though Kotetsu and Izumo are in watch, it was better that the more experienced fighters were still up.

Aku and Aki are sitting beside each other, with their siblings, full blooded and adopted, asleep near them. Naruto and Daria are entangled together, dried tears on their cheeks.

Aki smiled sadly at the sight of the two sleeping with one another. "Took them long enough to get to sleep. Not that I blame them though." She looked down, her smile gone. "Iruka's death is one of the things that's keeping me awake, too."

Aku grabbed her sister's hand in comfort. When Iruka began caring for Naruto, began seeing him as Naruto rather than the demon fox, the rest of the siblings got close to the chūnin. He was there for Naruto whenever Aku or Aki couldn't be, and became another brother figure for Naruto. So they, along with the rest of the rookies, were taking his death hard.

"Too late for regrets now," Aku sighed, looking worn. Almost as worn as he felt during the third shinobi war. "We made our choice. None of us imagined that Naruto would've killed him."

The two siblings stayed silent, mourning the loss of their friend. Anko remained silent as well, knowing that the two need the silence.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Anko spoke up. "So, where are we going to go from here, Aku?" The snake mistress asked him. "We'll need to find a place to make a home."

Aku was the first to speak. "Yeah, I have a few ideas," He answered. "Haru no Kuni and Nami are two options. We have allies there that will help hide us. Suna is also an option as well."

"But none of those villages are sure things," Aki said with a frown. "Who knows what lengths those idiots in the Council will go to, to get Naruto?"

"Not to mention the heirs and heiresses of each clan," Anko added in. "But I don't see any other choices. Mizu, Kumo, Iwa, and Oto are no goes, and we don't have any other allies in the other minor villages or countries."

"Well, there is one more place we can go to." Aku mentioned. "It's something that came up in my mind a while ago." That got the girls' attention.

"Really? What is it?" Anko asked him.

"It's a place the Chōwashibō clan formerly stayed at before coming to the Leaf." Aku informed them, a thinking frown on his face. "A place that has been destroyed for a while now."

It took a second for Aki to realize what he was talking about it. But when she did, her eyes widen. "Wait, you're talking about….?"

"Yes." Aku confirmed her silent question. "The Chōwashibō clan's old compound, deep within Sanmyako no Kuni."

* * *

 **Dragon: So, arc 2 is up and running now! Hope you guys enjoyed it!**

 **Translations:**

 **Sanmyako no Kuni-Land of Mountain ranges**


	9. Chapter 9

**Dōkutsugakure no Sato**

 **Dragon: Sorry 'bout the wait guys. I couldn't figure out how to finish this chapter. But it's done now, so I hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **Chapter 9-Rest**

* * *

" _You did this!"_

" _How could you, Naruto?!"_

" _You should have been the one to die!"_

" _Mizuki was right about you!"_

" _YOU ARE THE KYŪBI!"_

Naruto gasped in horror as he bolted up, somehow untangling himself from Daria's arms wrapped around him. He tried to regain his breath as he looked around in fright, thinking Iruka was going to hurl abuse at him again, only to see his friends still asleep around him.

He looked around for Aku and Aki when he heard a gruff, "They left." He turned to see Kurotsuchi sitting on a rock just above them. "Went to hunt for some food."

He scowled at her, but grunted in acknowledgement. Calm again, he looked around the cave, since he didn't get a good chance last night. The cave seemed to incline down to where they were currently. The Rookies and he were actually in a depression where the cave flattened out, all sprawled around the remnants of a fire. Kurotsuchi herself was on a higher incline, seemingly trying to distance herself from them.

Naruto stopped his observations and held his head with both hands, trying to fight off the agony he felt in killing Iruka. He began shaking slightly as he attempted to force the negative thoughts away. Kurotsuchi noticed this and frowned.

"Why are you so worked up over that guy's death?" she asked, trying to keep her tone blank. She didn't want to admit she was the slightest bit curious.

Naruto glared at her for a moment, hesitant to tell her. However, he thought about it and figured she already knew of his jinchūriki status, so there was no reason not to tell her. It was a few minutes after she asked when he replied;

"Iruka sensei was one of the first people after my family that accepted me for me. Before them, the villagers saw me as the Kyūbi reincarnated and did their best to hurt, ignore, and belittle me, or all three at the same time. I barely graduated because of the shinobi instructors kept sabotaging my work. But not Iruka sensei. He saw me for who I was, not for what I carried. He tried his best to help in the Academy, and soon it felt like I had another big brother looking out for me." Naruto ended there, and didn't say anything else. He just looked at Kurotsuchi intently.

Kurotsuchi didn't react to his staring. She simply continued to look towards the cave entrance apathetically. However, internally, she couldn't help but think of a blonde haired shinobi who had constantly been there for her when she screwed something up. She frowned.

"Don't forget," she said softly, catching Naruto by surprise. "Don't forget the look on his face. Don't forget what it felt like…when you killed that man," she continued, shocking Naruto for a moment. "Never forget the pain you feel, or the nausea it brought you."

Naruto frowned at her. "Is there a point to this?" he growled.

Kurotsuchi ignored him. "Because the moment you do," she said. "The second you forget all that pain…" She looked at Naruto intently. "Is the day you finally become a monster," she finished, making Naruto blink in shock. "The day you forget the agony you felt over that kill, will be the day you stop caring. And the day you lose all sense of humanity you have."

Naruto stared at her in shock. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, attempting to calm down.

Kurotsuchi's response was to scoff and turn away from him. When she didn't move to answer, Naruto began to grow irritated. "Hey! Stop ignoring me!" he shouted.

Again, Kurotsuchi ignored him.

* * *

 **With Anko, Aku, and Aki**

A kunai to the neck was all it took for a deer to fall to the ground dead. Aku nodded as he Shunshined down to the buck and carefully draped the deer across his shoulders and reappeared beside his comrades.

"Nice shot, Aku-kun," Anko purred seductively. Aku grunted and looked at them.

"How did you two fare?" he asked, not rising to Anko's teasing. The snake mistress pouted at that.

"I was able to trap a few rabbits," Aki answered, holding her catches up.

"I was able to scrounge up some herbs and mushrooms," Anko continued, still pouting as she held up her quarry. Aku nodded to her.

"Very good," he told them. "This will be enough for the time being. Let's head back for now." They nodded and began racing back to the cave.

After a few moments of silence, Anko spoke up. "Do you really think your clan's old compound in Sanmyako no Kuni is the best option, Aku-kun?" she asked.

"It's the farthest location from Konoha," Aku explained. "Not to mention, it's also easily defensed against Iwa."

"Will we even be able to make it there before the tracker nin are assigned to search for us?" Aki asked.

"Probably not, but we can definitely put a lot of distance between us and them before then," Aku replied.

"So how are we going to get there?" Anko asked dubiously. "Because if I remember correctly, Sanmyako no Kuni borders Iwa and to get there we'll have to cross their borders!"

"Not if we go the long way around," Aku countered. "There's a strip of land in-between Iwa and Suna, which is considered neutral territory and right in the middle of it is a massive fissure. Like a dividing line. We go through that territory, then we can go through Akuma no Kuni and come up to Sanmyako with little difficulty."

"It's all we have currently," Aki sighed, shaking her head. "How soon should we start heading there, you think?"

"The others are tired, so at the earliest, hopefully in just few more days at the most," Aku thought aloud with a frown. "However, it might be profitable to leave before all this heat dies down. With us in Oto, Iwa after the Tsuchikage's granddaughter with us, and Konoha's animosity with both, there's a chance that they can't immediately send tracker nin after us, with the political firestorm we've started."

The girls were silent at that. They stayed quiet until they reached the cave. Izumo and Kotetsu noticed they're arrival and eased up a bit. "Good hunting?" Izumo asked. The small group nodded as they walked through the maw of the cave.

The Rookies, except Naruto and Kurotsuchi, were starting to wake up as they walked in. Kiba looked ragged as he lifted himself up and groaned. "I think that smoke had some sort of after effects," he mumbled. "I feel like I'm about to hurl." Akamaru whined and rubbed up against his master, hoping to comfort him.

"A-Are you ok, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked, as she walked over to him. He smiled slightly at her.

"I-I'm fine, Hinata," the Inuzuka heir said. He moved to his side and continued, "I think I'll just lay here for a while."

"How's everyone feeling?" Aki asked.

"Like crap," Kiba mumbled.

"I'm ok, apart from the whole 'I just became a rogue nin' thing," Yakumo said sarcastically.

"Still alive," Tobia groaned as he moved to a sitting position.

"Chōwashibō clan is still frosty," Seimei called out as he stood and stretched. Daria nodded and rubbed her eyes as she yawned loudly.

"I am well rested," Shino said in his usual blank tone.

The others groaned their agreements. Neji and Tenten seemed a little out of it but Aku expected that since they had their first kills just yesterday. His eyes darted to Naruto, who was simply staring at where their fire was with a sad, but contemplative look on his face. Aku frowned, but decided not to say anything yet.

Instead, he shook his head and looked to Shikamaru and asked, "So what's your plan now that you all are out of Konoha?"

Shikamaru turned to Aku. "We were going to decide that after we got away," he admitted. "Obviously, any place that Naruto would have been welcomed at are out because of ties with Konoha at the moment, and going there would only bring us more trouble."

Aku nodded. "I suspected as much," he admitted. "It would have been counterproductive if you tried to plan escaping a village as large Konoha whilst researching other places to hide out in."

"We did do some research, though," Ino interjected, a little cross. "Akuma no Kuni was one option, and a few lands behind it, but we decided to discuss it when we wouldn't run the risk of being compromised."

Again, Aku nodded. "Again, smart." He looked to the Rookies and asked, "Tell me, did you all ever discuss Sanmyako no Kuni as a possible destination?"

"It was considered," Shino confirmed with a nod. "However, we wrote it off because all of the valleys and plains in Sanmyako were not the best places to hide all of us."

"Unless you go into the mountains themselves," Shikamaru continued. "But with all the dangers associated with them, we decided it was not the best option."

Aku nodded once more. "I understand your reasoning," he admitted. "But what if I told you there was place within those mountains that was safe from those dangers?"

Naruto, Daria, and Seimei's eyes shot up at that, while the others looked dubious. "No such thing," Kurotsuchi scoffed. "Iwa's searched those mountains for years. Only things there are falling rocks, deadly animals, and barbaric tribes. Not to mention the numerous outposts Iwa has in the area. We'd be caught in minutes."

"Not unless we know of a clan that used to live in those mountains," Aki said airily. The Rookies and Kurotsuchi looked at her, curious.

"You know something," Shino commented assuredly.

"We do." Aku nodded. "The Chōwashibō clan originates from there," he explained. "There's an old clan compound that we could use. It's easily defensible and no one knows about it but all of us."

The Rookies were silent until Kurotsuchi spoke up. "So that's why!" she accused, pointing a finger at Aku. "Ji-sama kept saying something about a powerful clan had come from Sanmyako being the reason they haven't pulled back troops! YOUR clan is that clan he mentioned!"

"More than likely," Aku confirmed. "Aki and I can lead you Rooks through a safe passage in Sanmyako and hopefully find the compound in working order. Even if we don't ultimately stay there, it will be safe enough for us to decide our next course of action."

"Can we even make it there safely?" Yakumo asked.

"If we are careful, yes. We can travel through the neutral territory between Suna and Iwa and hopefully avoid detection from there," Aki spoke up. "After that, we can travel through Akuma no Kuni and up into Sanmyako."

The Rookies seemed to think about that. Hinata frowned thoughtfully. "H-How long w-would it take t-to get there from here?" she asked.

"From here? A month, give or take," Aku answered. "And now with a destination in mind, we need to think about moving as soon as we're all able. With Oto, Iwa, and Konoha most likely dealing with a mountain's worth of red tape and paperwork because of our stunts yesterday, it would be best to move as soon as possible."

"Aku's right," Shikamaru said aloud. "It would be best to move after we're all sure we can make the trip out of Oto. We only have a small window to put as much distance between us and everyone else."

"That's if Orochimaru doesn't decide to investigate our presence," Anko grumbled. "Out of all our enemies currently, he's the one most likely to send shinobi after us. We are, after all, in his territory."

"That's true. And not only that, he's in a far better situation to investigate our presence here, than our other enemies," Shino commented with a nod.

Everyone was silent after that. Aki took that moment to speak up. "We can't worry about that right now," she said. "For now, let's just rest our tired bodies, and minds, and worry about returning to 100% before we concern ourselves with unknowns right now. Ok?"

No one protested as they nodded. Aku nodded at the agreement. "Alright. That's it for now," he announced. Let's get breakfast started and rest up while we can. Because when we leave here, we won't be getting many more rests like this."

* * *

Kurotsuchi hadn't moved all day.

While the others mingled around the cave and two or three of them went exploring further into the cave as the day wore on, the Iwa kunoichi stayed stationary at her spot, staring at the gaping mouth of the cave. She wanted nothing to do with the shinobi around her. Never mind the fact they helped her get away from Iwa.

She found herself thinking back to that day she wondered into her grandfather's office. She was having trouble with the fact that Deidara, the shinobi that had helped her the most since she joined the Iwa shinobi force, the man she had seen as a brother, had abandoned Iwa and went rogue. She sought out her Ji-sama for advice, but was forced to wait for him in his office when she saw the dossier on his desk.

She, admittedly, was curious. She had always sat at the Tsuchikage's desk with her grandfather as he showed her and explained the ins and outs of being a kage when she was younger. She tried to keep her kunoichi training up and not snoop, but then she noticed Deidara's name on a loose sheet sticking out of the file.

The rest was, as they say, history.

"Here," a soft voice called out to her, making her tense up and reach for a kunai. Turning, she noticed Aki Chōwashibō standing at her side, holding out a plate of food to her. The tomboy eased up and holstered her kunai. She took the plate with a grunt and turned away from Aki.

The black haired kunoichi simply sat next to the younger girl and observed her. "I don't know what you said to Naruto, but thank you," Aki said softly. Kurotsuchi didn't acknowledge her at first.

"What makes you think I said anything to him?"

"Well, since it's obvious that you were the only other one awake and near him this morning when Aku, Anko, and I went hunting, and Izumo and Kotetsu said Naruto didn't come to them, it wasn't hard," she explained. "As well as the fact, the Rooks haven't had that kind of mission yet. Only Naruto has, and he only experienced death take people he called friends, not taking a life."

Kurotsuchi grunted. "I don't know what you're talking about, Chōwashibō," she muttered. "You're obviously delusional if you think I said something to a Konoha dog like that…" She hesitated, thinking of the last time she insulted the blond. "…like him," she stuttered out.

Aki said nothing. She just stood up and said, "Well, either way, thanks. Whatever you said helped Naruto out a great deal." Kurotsuchi didn't respond. "I'm grateful for that," Aki told her, and walked away.

The Iwa kunoichi simply looked on as Aki went back down to her family, envy racing through her. Why was that blonde bastard able to have a family that supported him without question when her own supported countless monstrosities? She bit down on the response. Life wasn't fair. That was the first thing Iwa taught their shinobi. She gave out an annoyed and frustrated sigh.

" _Life sucks, then you die."_

' _Truer words have never been spoken,'_ the tomboy thought.

* * *

 **Iwa**

Ōnoki was infuriated. Not only was his granddaughter not back at Iwa yet, but also _kidnapped_ by Konoha shinobi and now in a foreign land where he couldn't get in because of legal bullshit!

The diminutive kage paced in front of his desk in a rage when an ANBU appeared before him. "Tsuchikage-sama," he intoned. "We've received word from the Otokage. He's allowed us access to their borders to search for Kurotsuchi-sama in exchange for the Konoha rogues holding her captive."

"Finally some good news," the oldest kage grumbled lowly. "So it's confirmed the dogs holding her are rogues?"

"Hai. All we know so far is they banished one of their genin, only for a hand full of their shinobi to grab the afore-mentioned genin and leave Konoha," the ANBU explained.

"Very well, organize a team of tracker nin, and find her. I want her back in Iwa before sundown tomorrow!" Ōnoki shouted, slamming his fist on his desk, sending papers and files flying off.

"Hai!" The ANBU Shunshined out, leaving the short man alone. The man sighed and walked back to his chair when he noticed something on the ground. Picking it up, he noticed it was the T&I's report on Project Bloodline. However, he noticed something amongst the papers, something that didn't belong.

A necklace. A necklace he himself bought Kurotsuchi the day she graduated the Academy.

"Kuro-chan," he sighed.


End file.
